Righteous Hands
by Katy-cakes
Summary: Carrie watched her husband die in her arms, after being brutally murdered. Three years later, while still dealing with her grief, she meets Victor Creed.
1. Chapter 1

Hey everyone! Glad to be back. I'm sorry but I will probably not write a sequel to _Through All Things_. I've been working out this gem for a few weeks now and I think I have something good here too. It will be a little rougher than my previous story though, but happy endings are a must.—please review if you read this and if you haven't checked out my previous story, I hope you will. Please enjoy!!

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_**Righteous Hands**_

"_Carrie, you know the guy was in the wrong. He wanted the other woman's puppies, but he gave her all of the responsibility. He did not deserve any of her money she got off of them. Don't be so glib!"_

_"Oh my God David, you did not just say glib!!" Carrie's laughter rang out through the darkened streets. Her dark red tresses swinging nonchalantly down her back. The dangers of the cold, city night life were lost to her as she wrapped her arms around her husband and enjoyed the happiness around her. _

_David kissed her forehead gently as he relished in her laughter. Both were blissfully unaware of the approaching figure as they heatedly debated over the case on __**Judge Joe Brown**__. Carrie looked up from her husband's arm just in time to see him ripped from her grasp, throwing her against the side of a building. _

_Her vision was blurry, when she finally opened her hazel eyes. How long had she been out? She forgot where she was for a moment when the events of the night came flooding back to her. "David…David!!!" Her voice began to escalate when no one answered her call. She started to stand when she recognized the dark brown jacket that belonged to her husband, heaped around a mangled figure. "David! Oh my God! David!" She ran to his side repeating his name like a mantra. She lifted his cold, lifeless body from the street, dragging him into the light of a close street lamp. The lamp appeared cold and unforgiving as she looked into the beaten face of her lost husband. His face was battered beyond recognition, and his once beautiful, blue eyes were no longer responding to her loving caress. Her screams were hurting her own ears, but someone had to hear her agony somewhere. _

"David!!!" Carrie woke to the sound of her own screams for the fifth time that week. It had been three years ago, but the image of her beautiful, husband's broken body filled her dreams every night. Her screams were the only comfort she received upon waking up every night. She reached over to his pillow and pulled it to her cold body. It no longer held his smell on it. It used to smell of _Polo_ and the excitement that belonged to David. His strong arms would have pulled her into his chest as he told her it was only a dream and to go back to sleep. He probably would have made fun of her in the morning, which would have caused her to tell him to stick it up his ass. Then a play fight would have ensued, which would have turned into a day of making love. She felt new tears flood her eyes at the thought of her fun-loving husband. Carrie finally tore herself away from the bed and dragged her body into the bathroom. She had not moved a single thing since his death. His razor still sat on the sink and was beginning to rust. She knew it was a safety hazard, but it belonged to him and therefore, would not be moved. God, three years she has had to put up with her own personal hell.

The cops never found the killer and gave up after her horrible testimony gave them nothing. She screamed until she tasted blood when they told her the case was closed. Her life used to be so beautiful and happy. David was the rich accountant for many of the city's well-to-do hoity-toity, rich folk, and she worked as an assistant to a business mogul. They were extremely well-off, but it meant absolutely nothing to them. They would have been happy living under paper bag in the middle of a busy intersection, as long as they were together doing it.

David rescued her from a life of mediocrity working in a restaurant. He whisked her off of her feet the minute he walked into _Toni's Diner_. She asked him what he wanted, and he told her flat out "Your lips on mine." He hadn't even flinched. She had been so taken aback she began to choke on her own spit. They got married after a year of dating and were going on their fourth year of marriage the year he died.

Carrie brought herself back from her reverie, as she stared at her haggard face. She was only twenty-six and looked forty-nine. Well, she still looked better than she did two years ago. Her hazel eyes began to close as she reveled in the memory of her sitting on the bathroom floor with a gun in one hand and the Bible in the other. She had been in a dark place then. She remembered holding the gun to her head and opening the Bible to some random book. She still remembered the verse: **Isaiah 41:10 - ****So**** do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand**. She had dropped the gun and cried herself to sleep that night. She stopped crying before bed after that night and just prayed until she closed her eyes and drifted off into a restless sleep.

She could feel herself getting stronger, but the dream never left her. She pushed herself away from the mirror and began to undress and get into the shower. Today she would go to work and try to live her life one step at a time. She climbed into the warm shower and let her short, red locks cover her face. She needed to feel shielded from the outside for just a few more minutes.

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"Victor!" The large man grunted into the phone, after waking up to its horrible screaming.

"What?! You woke me up you stupid ass!" He was in a mood today. Obviously, more alcohol was not a very good cure for alcohol poisoning. He would have to thank Fred for the advice when he saw him again. He rolled over to his back for full attention.

"Victor, I have a job for you. That is, if you are interested?" After the initial ass comment, the man was remembering who he was dealing with and decided to be a little less pushy. The grunt on the other side of the line informed him of Victor's "interest". "Okay, it's this guy, Walter Luvitts. He works in the high rise building on sixth, tenth floor. Did you get my package with all of his info on it?" He was beginning to sound a little anxious when nothing was said on the other end. After about a good twenty seconds a grumbled "yeah" was heard on the other side. "Okay, the client will be extremely generous if the killing is done slow."

Victor was beginning to get tired of his accountant's stupid questions and patronizing remarks. It was starting to show when his statement came out as more of a growl. "Look, Pal, I have had a long, hard night. My head feels like it is going to explode and you woke me up. I have been doing this long before your whore mother and bastard daddy conceived you, so, how bout just letting me do my job." He laughed when he heard the outraged huff on the other side of the line. He loved fluffing his associate's feathers.

"Fine…Sorry." The frightened associate hung up promptly. Victor slammed the phone shut and chunked it across the room. He would probably regret that later when he had to find it, but whatever. He walked to his bathroom to see just how bad the damage was. He laid his hands on both side of the sink and stared into his bloodshot eyes. He had been doing this for over seventy-five years now. He shook his head as he remembered every kill he had ever done. His knotted hair fell into his eyes, framing his face, and he knew he looked menacing. He could recall every scream, every plea, and every dying blow over the course of his life. He splashed cold water on his face to release a few of the demons wearing him down. He tried not to compare the people he killed. They were all jobs and nothing more, but he knew some were just innocents in the wrong place at the wrong time. He grabbed a towel off the sink and wiped his face and thoughts away. If he dwelled on it, he would be weak. He couldn't afford to be weak.

He grabbed a black shirt and through it on as he walked out the door and into the cold, embrace of night. He was apart of the night and it would shield the world from his sins. It would shield him from _his_ sins. Victor climbed to the top of his low-life apartment building and began his decent into the street. His life was blood, and his hands were covered in it. No sense in confessing to it now.

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"Hey, Carrie!" Carrie stopped mid way to the elevator as her boss hastily called for her to see him in his office. He really wasn't that bad of a guy. He paid the bills, but he really had bad timing.

"Yes sir." Carrie calmly sauntered into his office as she realized there was no way she could pretend she did not hear him.

"Carrie, let me just start out by saying excellent job on typing up the reports." Walter Luvitts stopped and waited for the appropriate response from Carrie.

"Thank you, sir." Carrie noticed the satisfied nod of his head as he continued.

"But I have heard through the grape vine you have been having a little bit of a money problem."

Carrie grit her teeth behind her lip-plump gloss and tried her hardest not to think of who she would have to tell off tomorrow. "No sir, I have been doing fine…I promise." She noticed his short in take of breath at her admission of the falsity of the rumor.

"Well, I understand how pride can play a large part in any life altering change so," he reached under his desk and extended a check, which she noticed was not in an envelope, to her. "I know. It is a little early for a Christmas bonus, but you truly deserve it."

Carrie knew she could not be angry at the man, but she knew heart felt generosity was not the case when it came to Walter Luvitts. She noticed the pompous smile the minute it spread across his face. "Thank you sir," she knew she sounded a little ungrateful, but this was a charity case as plain as day.

"Don't mention it. I know what it's like to be on rough times."

_I bet you do you smug ass. _Everyone knew the story about Walter Luvitts. He was a young, **rich** daddy's boy who hadn't worked a day in his life. How _dare_ he even say he understood the place she was in. She grabbed her lap top and her purse and began to walk back to the elevator. Her goal was to get to the elevator before unleashing a stream of unholy obscenities at her boss. She was grateful, but she was tired of being treated like the charity case for the last three years. It was fine at first but come on…three years of this.

Her heart was pounding and her face was blood red as she pushed the button for the elevator. It really was more of a punch than a push though. As the door opened, she did not even recognize the other figure in the small compartment before she pushed the door close button. And as the doors closed together she allowed her brain to melt, "You pompous little daddy's boy! How dare you assume to even guess at the position I am in!! You think you know all about the troubled life of the poor secretary, well understand this Wall Street wanabee, a monkey could perform your job with more zeal and dexterity than you ever could! And another…" Carrie began to feel the icy fear that creeps up your back when you know someone is watching you and stopped mid-tantrum. She pulled back the dark red strands of hair which had come loose from her bun and slowly turned to meet the eyes of the person she had just revealed her soul to.

_This girl is hot_. Victor knew he could have easily stepped off of the elevator before she pushed the closed door, but damn she looked pissed. The other thing he found interesting was she had not a clue he was behind her. Victor just couldn't remember a single person who had ever not noticed him. He decided he had to check this chick out, and she did not disappoint. He watched as she slowly turned to see the one person in the world who would watch someone make a complete ass out of themselves and just stand there. "Hey, I'm not that pompous." Victor watched as his statement hit her and felt a slight tingle when he noticed she was blushing. She was truly hot. Her hair was pulled back in a loose bun and a few of her red strands had come loose during her tantrum. Her cheeks were flushed, and he got the slightest sensation that she would look like this after sex. Her hazel eyes held a depth in them he really could not grasp, but man they were different. He smiled a little at the thought of _him_ thinking of someone else as different.

"So…I guess you heard every bit of that," Carrie smiled as the large man in front of her gave her a slight nod of assurance. "Look, I am really embarrassed…so…um…I would really appreciate it if you told no one about the crazy, red-headed bitch you saw leaving the top floor of this building," She risked one of her nervous smiles as the man appeared to consider her request. "Look I really need this job, and I just had to let out a little steam…you know."

Victor laughed at that remark. If anyone could understand that, he could. "I won't tell anyone about you, if you don't tell anyone about me. How does that sound?" He gave her one of his arrogant grins when she appeared startled at that deal. He reached over nonchalantly and pushed the red, emergency button right as the elevator hit the bottom floor. He knew she would be suspicious now, and he had to decide if she was worth shutting up or not.

"I'm going to ask the obvious question: Why would I not mention seeing you to anyone?" Her heart jumped into her throat as a large, clawed hand wrapped around her neck and slammed her into the side of the wall. Her eyes were starting to water as she realized she was completely helpless, and she couldn't breathe.

"Because I am here to kill someone and if you tell someone I will have to kill more people, which doesn't really bother me, but I don't get paid for them," he loosened his grip when he began to see her beautifully flushed face beginning to turn blue. "I really do think you are too pretty to kill, so I will let you go if you promise to…SHIT!!!" He dropped the fiery red-headed girl as he felt his undercarriage inside his stomach. _That bitch had kneed him in the balls_.

Carrie quickly pushed the emergency button back in as she regained her sense of equilibrium. She knew she would be bruised in the morning but she gave one good punch to the side of that big, hairy guys face and ran.

Victor had been hit by quite a few women in his life, but she was holding quite a bit of pent up anger in that one. He stumbled through the door ignoring the wide eye stares around him and took off after that little red-haired firecracker. He had to admit, had she not hit him in his most sensitive area, he would be extremely turned on right now. He had to stalk this chick for at least a few good blocks, and depending on what he saw would determine her fate.

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_Stupid Carrie, you are the dumbest brood in New York! _Her heart was racing as she ran down the street in her black pumps. She knew that guy was a mutant, and by the feel of her hand, a pretty powerful one at that. At first glance, she knew he looked pretty dangerous. But she had also learned not to judge a book by its cover. Yeah, so much for child hood lessons now. He would probably track her down and make her regret the day she was born. She never could understand what that saying meant, but she knew he would let her know.

As Carrie lightly jogged down the street reveling in all the horrible things the creepy guy was going to do to her, she failed to notice the group of dirty looking guys walking directly towards her. "Hey sexy, how much for tonight?" She barely had time to even get her bearings straight before she was grabbed and shoved into the closest alley.

"Are you serious?" She knew the statement seemed a bit off for the situation, but harassed twice in one night. She figured she was starting to build up the greatest damsel in distress record ever.

"We asked you a question Red," she felt herself being pushed against the wall as the supposed ring leader placed a hand at her already tender throat. She could smell the city streets on him. He smelled like dirty trash and smog. She figured this smell seemed appropriate; it wasn't a dangerous smell, like elevator guy, but an annoying one. _Why_ _would I think of elevator guy's smell?_ "Hey!! Look at me when I'm talking to you!" She felt her face explode as he slapped the fire out of her cheek. She knew she was in a losing battle now. Her adrenaline was already wearing off from her last attack, and now she just felt like another helpless girl in the street. She suddenly really wished she would have stayed in the elevator now. At least that was only one guy, even if he was about the size of two.

"Please, just let me go home," she felt her body jolt as a shoe came in contact with her ribs. Her screams were muffled as a dirty hand covered her now smeared plump lips. Hot tears were beginning to form at the corners of her eyes as she wondered if this is how David felt when she was stupidly unconscious. Suddenly, she began to hear more screams, but they didn't belong to her. Through her haze of pain she felt the need to sit up, just a little, to see what was unfolding. She watched as one of the disgusting figures was thrown into the building across the street. Then, one of them was impaled by, what appeared to be, sharp lion-like claws. She watched as the dying man twitched until he stopped moving altogether, and was thrown unceremoniously to the cold, dirty ground. She felt herself becoming nauseous at all the death around her. She also began to feel the damage done to her ribs. She closed her eyes as the screams continued and then sweet silence descended on her.

------Please Review


	2. Chapter 2

Hey thanks everyone who sent me reviews. I also appreciate the story alerts and stuff, but you can review too. I promise I enjoy all types of constructive critics. If you have an idea for some cute dialogue let me know. I might use it. Just let me know what you think. Thank you for reading.

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Chapter 2

He watched, with grim satisfaction, as the dead man slid off of his claws leaving them stained with blood. As his feral nature began to wear off, after killing everything, Victor noticed the girl in the corner. He had followed her. He had also watched as she pathetically fought off those stupid, human gang-bangers. It was odd to see human gangs now-a-days. They were probably an anti-mutant group out lookin for a little action. Well, he sure as hell gave em' some. He stepped closer to the red head to get a better look at her. _Well, kitty is kinda cute when her claws are up_. He reached down to gently lift her face into the little light provided by the street lamp. His eyes became dark for just a split second when he noticed her bruised cheek and split lip. He had seen worse, and he really shouldn't care how she looked. But for some reason, this girl was making him feel things he had been repressing for years. He had never felt sympathetic towards anyone in his entire life, except for Logan, but that was a different story.

"Damn girl, they really did a number on you," he gently moved her body so he could examine the unconscious girl a little better. He was honestly surprised he did not want to do other things to the unconscious girl at the moment. As he squatted over the deathly quiet woman, he couldn't help but analyze a bit more than her injuries. He noticed her lips were extremely swollen from the slap, but they just appeared more ravishing than anything. He also noticed how the blood on his claws blended in with her beautiful hair color. He _would_ be turned on by a woman whose hair was nearly the same color as blood. He suddenly froze when he felt her body move a little under his ministrations. He saw her eyes flutter open and realized he was still holding half of her body in his arms.

Carrie suddenly became aware of the feeling of strong arms holding her up a little. She tried to analyze the feeling of the arms in the back of her mind, but in her nearly unconscious state she could only remember the feeling of those men attacking her. She could only imagine what they were doing to her unconscious form. She threw open her eyes to see the face of her attackers, only for them to focus on the face of creepy guy from the elevator. "Get away from me!" She lifted her body as best she could with the adrenaline renewed in her body. She backed up against the disgusting alley wall to get as far away from this man as humanly possible. "Please, I didn't tell anyone about you, and I'm sorry for kicking you. Please I just want to go home," she realized her last statement came out as more of a plea and was aware of how pathetic she must look. Tears began to poor down her ravaged cheek as she remembered the events of the entire day. She had been pitied by her boss, strangled in an elevator, and molested in an alley. She was tired, hungry, and getting really pissed off. She saw the man move towards her from the corner of her eye and suddenly felt sick and tired of constantly being the victim.

Carrie lunged towards Victor, eyes seeing red. She knew he could stop her, but she felt like a cornered animal. She balled her fists and started pounding as hard as she could on his chest. She felt the solidness of him and knew she was doing very little, if anything, but she had to get this out. She pounded and yelled as her tears stung her open wounds. "Get away from me! Leave me alone!" Her screams were so shrill no one else could have understood them but Victor. She began to notice he was not moving away from her or towards her. He was just taking it. Her ribs began to sting at the constant swinging of her arms, and she knew she had to stop before she injured herself further. She was so tired, and this man obviously was not trying to hurt her. Carrie stopped swinging her arms and placed her balled fists against the man's broad chest. The chill in the air began to fill her lungs as she took a shaky breath. Her body began to fill limp, so she leaned into the closest, most secure thing which happened to be his warm body.

Victor was not shocked by the outrage and the punching. He figured she would be pissed of f. He was even impressed at her bravery, but as she leaned her broken body against his, he was shocked. He had never had a woman voluntarily touch him in any way other than with violence. He stood there looking straight ahead of him as he felt her rub her cheek against his chest. She was still crying. He could feel the wetness of her tears through his shirt and felt her body still shaking a little. He still didn't move a muscle.

After about a good five minutes of feeling her body calming down, he heard a shaky voice directed at him. He looked down at the obvious distraught woman against him. She repeated the question as he obviously did not hear what she said. "Could you walk me home...Please?" She took another shaky breath as she stared up at him with those completely lost hazel eyes.

He knew she was not his responsibility, and he was getting kind of pissed at the fact she made him feel so weak. "Why?" He lowered his voice to let her know she is in the presence of darkness. He was curious to see what her response would be.

"Because you haven't hurt me yet and not much out here is more dangerous than you appear to be," she figured she should just be honest with the guy. She knew he was dangerous. She felt it the second she leaned into his body. He was a killer, most of it was instinct, but he wasn't a monster.

"Okay." He figured his client would have to wait anyway. That Luvitts guy was long gone by now. He watched as the girl stumbled over to her stuff and attempted to bend over to pick up her shambled belongings. She wasn't making a sound besides her erratic breathing. She took off her pumps to allow for better movement and used the wall for support. She picked out her wallet and her keys from her purse, she could get a new purse, and ignored her destroyed computer. Her hand slipped from the wall as she tried to stand back up. Victor instinctively put his arm around her mid section to steady her. Why he decided to do, he couldn't say. But the thought of looking at her crumbled back on the dirty, alley ground caused his arms to wrap protectively around her. He just felt the need to protect this woman.

Carrie was aware of his steady breathing as she relaxed into his support. She had never been in so much physical pain in her entire life. She couldn't remember it hurting this bad after she was thrown against that wall. "Thank you."

Her voice sounded foreign to him. He realized he was basically embracing her and she wasn't pulling away or fighting him off. He took the moment to breathe in her essence. He took in the fact she smelled of warmth and cinnamon. He also realized how he was aware of nothing else but her at that moment and stepped back as quick as he had come. Carrie stumbled a bit at the loss of comfort. He knew he was starting to get too close when he forgot everything else around him. He needed to be aware and cold not comforting.

Carrie turned towards the street and began to hobble slowly towards her apartment building. She thanked God she was at least close to home when she was attacked. "My name is Carrie, by the way." She didn't turn around to see if he had heard her. She could feel his presence even if she couldn't see him. "What's yours?" After a long silence, she figured he was not going to tell her. "You were quite talkative in the elevator. What happened since then? Cat got your tongue?" She turned to see his reaction to that hoping he knew she was only teasing and not completely ignorant of the fact he was a mutant.

"Clever little thing…aren't ya?" He heard the humor in her voice and felt warmth involuntarily spread through him at her playful banter. He truly wanted to play this game, it was one of his favorites, but he could feel himself becoming attached. He knew the ramifications of attachment.

"Yeah, I try." She let a chuckle shake her body and immediately regretted it as her ribs sent a shock wave through her body. She stopped in her tracks and gripped the wall for security as her other hand wrapped around her mid section. She felt like she was holding herself together.

_Damn me to hell_. He knew he was losing when he saw her double over. He walked to her put a hand on her hip. "Don't move," his voice sent shivers down her spine as she suddenly felt herself being gently lifted up into strong arms.

Her ribs were still screaming, but at least she did not have to fight them anymore when she moved. "Thank you…again." She knew she was starting to sound like the damsel in distress again, but his body was so warm and comforting against her battered body.

Her smell was starting to bombard all of his senses. He could feel her lithe form curve into his chest. He knew she put her life in his hands at that moment, and he was becoming a bit overwhelmed by the thought. "Where do you live?" He still kept his voice hard and disconnected, because it was the only thing he had control over at that point in time. She pointed to an apartment building about two buildings down from where they were standing. As he began walking, he felt her wind her arm around his neck and lean her head extremely close to his cheek. He was doing everything in his power not to throw this gentle, beautiful woman to the ground and run in the other direction. He did not want to feel the emotions she was causing in him at that moment.

"You have really soft hair," she said it as more of a statement rather than a compliment. But his hair was quite soft. She figured it was kept long to keep his face hidden, but it was quite nice to the touch. "Sorry, I didn't mean to make you feel more uncomfortable than you already were."

His breath caught in his throat when he felt her run her fingers through some of the strands of hair. God she was completely intoxicating. It felt like they had been walking for hours by the time he got to her building. He gently set her down on the curb in front of her building.

Carrie turned to thank the strange man she suddenly felt attached to, but as she turned she felt two large hands gently holding her shoulders. She stopped breathing when she felt his warm breath tickle her ear. "Victor, my name is Victor." His voice was so gentle it felt as if he caressed her injured body. She quickly turned to thank him when she felt the hands leave her shoulders, but darkness was the only thing she found. He was gone and the night was the only thing left in his wake. She turned, a bit dejectedly, towards her building and began to walk to the elevator that would carry her to her room. As she got into the elevator, she was once again reminded of creepy…Victor. Wow, tonight was definitely a night she would always remember.

She basically fell into her apartment and collapsed onto her bed. She lay on the bed and just felt the relief wash over her entire being. She had made it home from work! She never thought she would be so relieved to be thinking that. She rolled onto her back and opened her ripped blouse to assess the injuries. She looked at the blue bruises running up her side and knew they were probably just bruised. Thank God, because she was not entering a hospital. She sat up from her bed and headed for the bathroom to wash the city's grime from her body. She had never felt this disgusting in her entire life. She climbed into the shower and felt the warmth of the water wash away the events of the day. She leaned against the wall and closed her eyes. The minute they were closed Victor's eyes appeared. They were the darkest, most painful eyes she had ever seen. She could have sworn she had seen that pain in her grandfather's eyes long ago when he had told her about the war. Victor didn't look that old, maybe in his late thirties, early forties. But those eyes looked ancient. She leaned into the water and wrapped her arms around herself. She felt like she could almost pretend they were his arms holding her together.

As she got dressed for bed, she suddenly realized something. That had been the first time in three years she had closed her eyes and not seen David's mangled body. "Oh my God," she thanked God out loud as her revelation washed over her. She was finally beginning to feel healing taking place within her. _She was finally healing_. She smiled bigger than she had in years at that very moment. She was thinking of David and did not want to curl into a ball and cry. "Yes!" She threw her arms up in celebration, but quickly brought them back down as she realized her ribs hated her. She continued to smile as she crawled into bed. Her heart was not breaking as she laid her head on both pillows, and it felt amazing to just lie down and feel completely at peace. She rolled over to see the clock and laughed when she saw it was 1:00 o'clock in the morning. She decided today was definitely a sick day. Carrie closed her eyes to feel the sweet embrace of sleep take her away. Her body was so tired it refused to be plagued by one dream that night.

Victor watched her from outside her window. He had to know she got in safely. He also knew he was taking this a bit too far. He should be wishing she had collapsed on her way to her room and died from exhaustion. If she were dead at least he wouldn't have to feel so weak. He had seen her bruised body as she pressed her fingers against the battered flesh, and he had wanted nothing more than to press his body to hers until the pain went away. It was actually causing him physical pain to watch her. She wasn't even a mutant. She was a weak…no she wasn't weak at all. He couldn't even lie to himself to make him feel better. She had faced him head on. She had tried to fight off multiple assholes, and didn't even have mutant ability. She was just Carrie, but she had faced them head on. _When did he start calling her by name_? _Why had he told her his name_?

Victor jumped off of the ledge four stories up and landed on the street below her apartment. He gave one last look back at that dark window and knew she held something over him. He would be coming back to that window. He knew he couldn't stay away from her. He let a low growl slip from his throat at his complete weakness for this woman.

---Please review if you are in to the story. If you are not in to the story let me know too or just stop reading it. Haha! Just kidding…sort of.


	3. Chapter 3

-Hey everyone, sorry about the long update. I am so appreciative of everyone's awesome reviews!! Thank you so much, but please continue. There is still a ridiculous amount of people reading the story without reviewing. Please enjoy chapter 3...

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Chapter 3

Carrie woke up the next morning feeling completely sore and physically exhausted, but she realized she hadn't felt this optimistic in years. As she slowly rolled out of bed, she decided today would be a good day to just walk around the city. She lived in Manhattan but hadn't gone out much since her husband died. She looked at the phone momentarily, because a day out would mean calling in sick to work. She hated doing this, but she was honestly was pretty sore from last night's events. She picked up the phone and put on her business voice, with a tad of sick thrown in there. While waiting for someone to pick up on the other line, she decided to inspect how bad the damage was. She went to the bathroom mirror and almost dropped the phone when Jackie the receptionist, picked up, "Hello, Walter Luvitts' office." The perky receptionist sounded almost like a robot through the phone.

"Oh hey, Jackie!" Carrie absolutely loved Jackie. The woman was always caught bashing Walter Luvitts behind his back. Luvitts was completely in love with her too. Carrie laughed out loud as she remembered a time he hit on the beautiful Latino, and she threatened a law suit. He was so shot down he didn't leave his office for the rest of the afternoon.

"Hey Carrie, you not comin in today," Jackie, realizing it was Carrie, let her beautiful accent flow, as she talked comfortably to her friend on the other line. "I wouldn't blame you if you didn't. Luvitts has been on a rampage today. He didn't even make a comment on how 'spicy' I looked this morning. That stupid _burro_."

"Yeah, I had a rough night last night, and I am completely wiped out. I could barely move this morning."

"Oooh, you finally got some!" Jackie's voice rang through the phone. The people walking by her desk couldn't help but gape at the openly offensive statement. "Who you look-in at chicka? I wasn't talkin to you. We all know you didn't get any," Jackie stopped harassing the temp long enough to realize she had Carrie on the other line. "Sorry girl, the stupid temp still hasn't learned her place in the office. So, as I was saying…"

"I didn't get laid Jackie," Carrie's calm voice broke through to Jackie's overly excited nature. "I don't think getting mugged counts as an awesome night, so…"

"Oh my God! You got mugged! I am so sorry girl. Are you okay? Do you want me to ditch with you?" Carrie couldn't help but to allow a genuine smile grace her bruised face. She was touched by her friend's concern.

"No, I'm okay, a few bumps and bruises but nothing serious. The cops were really quick showing up. I guess I was making quite a bit of noise," Carrie decided to not mention her hero. She figured Victor was already under enough investigation as it was.

"Well, okay chicka, but you give me a call if you need some company…okay?" Jackie allowed her statement to come out as more of a plea than anything else. She would've given anything to be out of that hell hole.

"Okay girl, thank you. Don't forget to tell Luvetts."

"I won't, bye girl."

Carrie set the phone down and looked back at the mirror to see if she could even go out in public. Her beautifully high cheek bone was swollen from being slapped, and her lip was still a little swollen. She examined her lip a little closer and determined it would look good under different circumstances. Finally, she lifted her shirt over her head to examine the bruised ribs. They were not nearly as blue as the night before and were not nearly as painful to the touch. She decided a tight ace bandage would do just fine, just no getting mugged again. She gave a chuckle at her crappy attempt at a diagnosis. She took off the rest of her close and decided to take a quick morning shower before wrapping the offending ribs. She gently stepped into the hot shower and allowed the water to melt away the pain from her mid section. She smiled with satisfaction as the water successfully dulled the pain of her bruised face and ribs. She decided make-up and bandages would be the perfect solution to her healing body.

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"Aaahhhhhh!" Victor's screams could be heard throughout the small apartment community, as he threw his phone against the wall, successfully shattering it. _How dare_ his associate try to tell him he failed at an assassination attempt. You can't fail at something you didn't attempt you stupid ass. Victor sat on his bed and thought over the events of last night. He had come home, hammered drunk, from Fred's and past out half way to the bed. It took quite a load of booze to put him on his ass like that, but it's not like he didn't have money to burn. He drank every bit of liquor Fred kept stashed to get that _girl _out of his head. He picked up the ash tray by his bed and through that against the wall as well. He decided he would be out of breakable objects soon, but every time he thought of her, he felt that weakness creep up into his system. He could put off the assassination for one more day. He needed to clear his head, and people watching always did the trick.

Victor grabbed his trade mark trench coat and opened the window for a quick exit. He jumped down into the alley below his building and began stalking through the shadows, as only Victor Creed could. He didn't enjoy the constant stares, so dark corners and alley ways were his only friends in the street. Just as he came to his favorite darkened corner, he saw her. She was dressed in a loose sundress. It came all the way to her feet which where fitted with green tennis shoes. The dress fit loosely around her small chest and did little to conceal the bruises received from last night. He couldn't help but admire the way she tried to conceal the bruises around her face, but still wore her hair up in a loose pony tail. The fashion said, "Yes, I received some injuries. What of it?" She wasn't trying to flaunt them but was not ashamed of them either.

"Damn it!" He cursed quietly under his breath as he watched her figure head in his direction. She couldn't see him, he knew that, but he would have to smell her scent as she walked by him gracefully. The warm scent of cinnamon washed over him ten fold as she sauntered by his dark hell. She was completely unaware of his figure as she innocently walked by the vendors on the street selling different items. He watched as she carefully touched the jewelry at one of the vendor's tents. She touched the simple crystal cross hanging on a silver chain and smiled gently as it shimmered in the sun light. The vendor saw her interest and swooped down to grab his sell.

"Quite the beauty, isn't she?" The vendor's accent appeared to make him sound sleazier than he really was.

Carrie looked up from the necklace as the vendor approached her with hope written all over his face. "Yes it is, but I'm just looking for now. This price is a little out of my range anyway." Victor smiled at her obvious attempt at barter.

"Well, for such a beauty as yourself, I'm willing to bring this down at least to $20. How does that sound?" Carrie gave the man a stunning half smile, as she turned to walk to the next vendor. "Okay, fifteen."

Carrie turned back around triumphantly and handed the man a ten and a five. "I knew you would come to your senses." The vendor gave her a look under his eyebrows as he put the cash away. Carrie appeared not to notice. She held the beautiful, simple necklace in her hand. Her eyes appeared lost in there investigation of it. She stuffed the necklace safely into her purse and continued on her way. After about twenty minutes of looking around, she couldn't help but feel as if someone was watching her. Before she had a chance to give this feeling any more thought, she heard a scream not far from where she was standing.

Carrie picked up her pace down the street of vendors to check out this horrible commotion. What frightened her most was the fact no one was reacting the way she was. All of the vendors just stood around at their tents looking for customers. Not even the people on the street took any notice of the scream. Just as she rounded a corner, she understood why no one was reacting. Her stomach began to knot up, as she witnessed a teenage, mutant girl being beaten on the street. She closed her eyes to try to block out the screams. She knew if she got involved they would turn on her, and she was already bruised pretty bad, but that poor girl.

Carrie watched helplessly as the girl's beautiful blue skin was ripped open, and the red blood began to turn her skin purple. The blood mingled with the many bruises already covering her delicate frame. Carrie heard the clink of metal as something hit the ground below her. She looked down and watched as her beautiful necklace fell from her purse. It landed into a crevice on the sidewalk where the girl's blood was leaking into the ground. She reached down and picked up the necklace. She allowed the girl's blood to soak her porcelain skin and just as quickly as it came, her fear was gone. "Get away from her!!" Carrie rushed forward and pushed the assailants away from the broken girl. They stepped away from the scene and stared at the red headed woman who had lost her mind. "She hasn't done a damn thing to you! Get out of here before I kick your punk asses!"

The boys began to circle the brave woman who held her purse to her side, preparing to use it as a weapon if necessary. The boys began to approach her as a crowd started to form around the commotion, because now that a human was involved it was worth noticing. "I'd bet the authorities would be real impressed with a bunch of teenagers beating up on a poor, defenseless _human_ woman." The boys stopped in their tracks as Carrie's comment registered. The cops would turn their heads if they heard a mutant was beaten, but a human woman.

"You better watch yourself. Next time we might just assume you are a mutant, you mutant loving bitch!"

Carrie watched as the boys began to push their ways through the crowded street. People looked on with a mixture of horror and disgust, as Carrie gently pulled the girl to her feet. "What are you looking at?" Carrie couldn't believe these people were just going to stare at her as this innocent teenage girl bled to death. Carrie put the girl's arm around her shoulder and began to carry her into the sunlight, away from the darkened street corner. She set her down gently on the warm pavement. "Hey, look at me." Carrie put her hand under the girl's chin and brought her face to the front so she could get a better look at her. The girl's features were beautiful, and the only difference she could find between her and the injured girl was blue skin. The battered girl slowly opened her eyes to reveal beautiful, amber orbs. "Wow! You are stunning!" Carrie was shocked when the girl's eyes glassed over and tears poured down her beaten cheeks. She wrapped her arms around Carrie's neck and sobbed into her shoulder. Carrie sat down and pulled the small girl into her lap and allowed her to sob her pain out. "Sshh, it's okay. I promise you're going to be okay." As she stroked the girl's bloodied head, Carrie suddenly felt her eyes begin to water as well and let tears flow down her cheeks for this poor girl. She knew she couldn't promise her that. This girl was threatened every day. Who was she to promise she would be okay? Carrie rocked the girl gently and continued to whisper comforting words into her ear, as the crowd became more and more disgusted at the display. Carrie only hugged the girl's delicate form closer to her body to shield her from the hate surrounding them.

It was a good fifteen minutes later before Carrie heard the sound of someone screaming someone's name. "Valerie!! Valerie!" Carrie could hear the panic in the woman's voice and knew it was a mother looking for her daughter. She watched as the African American woman ran up to a man and asked for his assistance only to be turned away. She didn't appear to be phased by his cruelty and went on to the next person.

Carrie began to wave the woman down from across the street, the girl had fallen asleep and Carrie did not want to wake her. Carrie watched as the woman's face turned into shock at the sight of her broken daughter. "Valerie! Oh my God! Baby!" Carrie couldn't help, but allow a little bit of fear wash over her as the woman's motherly instincts took control. "Is she okay? Did you do this? Did you see what happened?" Carrie felt a little overwhelmed as the questions began to flow from the hysterical woman's mouth. She handed the small girl to the hysterical woman, and felt herself warm at the sight of the mother's gentle ministrations to her sad, broken daughter.

"I caught these boys attacking her in the alley and stopped them. I picked her up and carried her to this wall. She fell asleep, so I looked over some of her injuries. They all appear to just be bruises and cuts." Carrie stopped talking as she realized the woman had stopped listening and was coaxing her daughter awake. The little girl opened her eyes and threw her arms around her relieved mother.

After what felt like hours, the mother finally broke the silence. "Thank you." The woman then turned and began walking back through the crowd of hateful people staring at her. The woman allowed the love she shared for her daughter to surround them as they passed through the crowd. Carrie watched on and realized this was probably an everyday event for them. She knew nothing of hate and prejudice. She was a beautiful, human girl. She suddenly hated the pity she had felt for herself after the death of her husband. That woman probably dealt with the thought of her daughter being beaten to death on a daily basis.

Carrie grabbed her chest as sobs began to wrack her body. She wrapped her arms around herself and felt the wetness of the girl's blood on her purple dress. She couldn't shake the anguish wreaking havoc on her body and her sore ribs were starting to burn at the force of her sobs. She found a small building with steps in the front and sat down to stop the world from shaking around her. She could only imagine what the people who past her thought: _drug addict_, _mutant_, _homeless_. The thing that stunned her the most was she didn't care.

She sat on the steps with her head in her hands trying to control her sobs. She finally lost track of time, when she felt a presence next to her on the steps. She looked up from her blood soaked hands and into the familiar eyes of her savior. "Hey," she knew it sounded a bit off considering the circumstances, but she couldn't really think of anything else to say at that moment.

"Hey," he smiled at her raw emotion. He envied her, and her ability to show weakness when pain was smashing into her body. He looked into her mascara smeared eyes and saw the strength he had come to associate with her. He had watched as the realization of '_how cruel the world_ _can be'_ came crashing into her. Her beautiful face had looked like it was going to melt off, as the reality had hit. "Life sucks huh?" He hadn't meant for it to sound so mocking, but that was his nature. He was always on the defense, and it was the only thing holding him back from taking her into his arms and shielding her from the cruelty she had witnessed.

"Yeah…yeah it does." She got up to walk away from the cruelty now coming from the one man that had saved her life. She couldn't take that kind of cruelty on top of everything else.

"I'm sorry." It was only a whisper, but she had heard it. The statement did the trick, and she stopped in her tracks. Victor walked over to where she was standing and gently put his arms around her neck. Carrie felt something cold touch her collar bone and reached up only to come in contact with crystal.

_Her necklace! _She remembered how she had thrust her purse out in front of her as she tried to protect the broken girl. Her necklace had probable fallen from her purse again. She clutched at her necklace and felt the coldness of it send a comfort through her body. Carrie turned and looked into Victor's unusually black eyes. She thought she saw pity there and _respect_. "Thank you, Victor." She also whispered her statement, for fear the unspoken trust would vanish at the slightest movement. "I feel like I have been thanking you a lot lately." She gave a shy smile at the intensity of his stare.

He couldn't bear the sincerity of her smile or the thank you. She was so innocent from the world he lived in. She had only gotten a taste of it today. He didn't deserve that thank you or that smile. He would have killed those boys and that mutant girl, just to put her out of her misery. He had watched as Carrie promised to not let anything happen to her and had to look away. She was so naïve, and he couldn't bring her into this world of his. At this realization, he painfully turned away from that innocent smile and began his long track home.

"Wait!" Carrie ran up and gently grabbed Victor's arm in a desperate attempt to make him stay. She was shocked when he jerked his arm away as if he had burned it. "I'm sorry, but I just don't want to leave this at a 'thank you'. Please, let me thank you properly. I can cook you dinner, offer you a place to stay, or…even a place to hide." She knew she was risking a lot at her last statement. She wasn't ignorant enough to know this man was not on the good side of the law, but what mutant was?

Victor closed his eyes. He was determined to get this girl out of his life by any means necessary. "What? You're not offering me some ass too?"

"Don't try to get rid of me you raunchy bastard. You heard my offer, and I'm sticking to it. I am going back to my apartment, and I know you know where I live. If you ever need anything let me know." At that, she turned and began her walk back to her building.

He was shocked she had read him like a book. _Damn_, this was going to be harder than he thought. He gave her one last look, as he shot into the shadows between two buildings to decide where to go to from there.

---Please review and chpter 4 is in the works. Thanks for reading.


	4. Chapter 4

-Hey guys get ready, cuz this one will be pretty deep for Victor. This is dealing with some deep emotional battles, but lots of Carrie and Victor. I am really enjoying writing this. Let me know what you guys think. Enjoy…

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Chapter 4

Carrie walked into her apartment and immediately ripped off her soiled dress. She dragged her emotionally wracked body to the shower, kicked off her shoes, and stepped into the stream of hot water. The shower had been her life savor for the last few days, but she thanked God every time she stepped into it. She sat down on the floor of the tub and wrapped her arms around her knees. She rested her head against her knees and closed her eyes. Her soaked hair hid her face and shielded her from the hate covering her body. She hated those people for treating that girl like that. She hated every person who ever hurt someone because they were different. _Victor_. Her thoughts suddenly took on another victim. How many times had Victor been persecuted because he was different? She suddenly wanted to take his hulking figure and wrap him away from the world. No wonder he was so cold. She wrapped her arms tighter around her knees, as she imagined it was Victor she was holding. He held so much pain in those eyes. She was familiar with pain, but not the pain of constantly being an outsider. "_In_ _that room the women come and go talking of Michelangelo", _she smiled as the line from T.S. Elliot's _The_ _Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock_ came flittering across her subconscious. Victor reminded her of Prufrock. He was a man who knew what it was like to be on the outside looking in.

She closed her eyes and imagined watching Victor, as he hid in the shadows, watching the people discuss the latest topics. He probably held more knowledge behind those eyes than he let on. She stood up from the shower and slowly turned the knobs until the stream turned into a solid drip. She stepped out into the cold bathroom and wrapped a towel around her soaked body. She had to start cooking. She made up her mind that even if he didn't take her up on her offer she would at least be prepared. She put on some comfortable pajama bottoms and a t-shirt, and then got to work in the kitchen. She pulled her wet hair up into a half bun and started on some easy Hamburger Helper. She decided if he didn't come she wouldn't feel too bad about throwing out old Hamburger Helper. As the ground beef began to brown, she walked over to her window. She pulled back the curtains and opened the big bay window. She knew she was getting too hopeful, he probably wouldn't even show up. I mean he was a guy who was probably wanted on several accounts of…She didn't let herself finish that thought. She had no right to assume what his past looked like.

Carrie walked back to the kitchen to continue cooking her meal, completely unaware of the man below her building fighting a battle within him; he knew he could not win. Victor stared up at the open window on the forth floor of the apartment building. She was giving him an open invitation to just saunter into her house and do what he wanted. He couldn't handle this complete trust she just handed him. Why would anyone trust him with their lives? Why would this girl even care about him? What the hell was he going to do? He sat down on the cold pavement and leaned his head against the cold brick wall behind him. As he closed his eyes, all he saw was red, which wasn't an unusual occurrence. Whenever he closed his eyes he saw the blood of his victims. He quite literally saw red before killing a victim, but this time it was different. He watched behind closed eyelids, as the red turned into hair, _her_ hair. His breathing slowed as Carrie's face formed in his subconscious mind. Her hazel eyes lined with worry and empathetic kindness. He opened his eyes and looked up, for the hundredth time, at that open window. Well, he was already going to hell, why not get a head start on torturing himself.

"Well, I guess he's not coming," Carrie muttered to herself, as her eyes drifted over to the hanging clock, which read 10:30 pm. She knew she was a loser for staying in on a Friday night waiting for some mutant guy to show up. 'No', she gave herself a mental slap for referring to Victor as just 'some mutant guy'. He saved her life; he rescued her necklace, and quite possibly saved her from herself. She had no right to call him 'some mutant guy'. She turned off the stove and put the leftover food in the fridge. She could always warm it up tomorrow. Carrie suddenly felt the day's events catching up to her and began to walk to her bed. She was just about to pull down the covers when the blowing curtain grabbed her attention. She disappointedly walked to the window to shut it for the night, but just as she was about to close it, a large body slipped lithely into her apartment. "Hey, kinda late isn't it?" Carrie allowed the nervousness to sneak into her voice as she took in the man in front of her. His hair was pulled back, which revealed his face completely to her. She took in his dark eyes again and saw the inner struggle raging behind them. She suddenly felt her heart jump into her throat as she watched him turn to leave her apartment. "I was just kidding," she reached for his arm to stop him and noticed how he didn't jerk away this time, "It's Friday night. I wouldn't have cared what time you showed up." He turned to face her, his eyes drifting to the spot on his arm where she was still grasping. "Sorry…"

He watched as her hand appeared to almost drift away from his arm, as if it wanted to stay there. "Why?" He thought it was a simple question to ask. He really wanted to scream at her, scare her, just something to let her know she was stupid for inviting him. But he couldn't bring himself to do it. Her gentle face was looking at the ground, her hands wrapped loosely around herself. She looked as if she was just scolded.

She lifted her eyes to look into his haunted ones. "I just wanted to thank you for all you have done. I know you don't think you did anything, and you probably regret ever doing anything at all, but you have done more than you could ever imagine." She reached out a tentative hand to take the index finger of his large clawed hand. She never broke eye contact as she put her entire hand inside of his and grasped it like a hand shake. She lifted the hand up and shook it gently, "I didn't think we had that great of a formal introduction so…I'm Carrie. Your name is…" She felt the need to guide him through this introduction as he appeared shocked she had initiated contact between them.

He suddenly felt his mind catch up to what was trespassing between them and gave her a quiet answer, "Victor."

"Well, it is nice to meet you Victor. Do you want something to eat or drink…a beer?" She gave him a sideways glance as she sauntered toward the kitchen. He didn't give her an answer and remained standing by the window. He appeared as if he would leap out it at any moment, so using her quick thinking she grabbed two beers from the fridge. "Well, I want a beer. I will just set this second one on the kitchen table." She set the beer down and patted the table as she sat down.

Victor watched as she drank the beer and appeared to tease him with it. She would take a sip and then make a sound of complete satisfaction as she swallowed it. Victor walked over to the table and pulled the chair out. He sat down across from her and propped his feet up on the chair next to him. He gave her a look under his thick eyebrows, as he used his sharp claw to pop the top off of the beer.

"Wow that must come in handy." Carrie gave an awkward chuckle at Victor's attempt to show her how dangerous he was. She was pretty sure she knew at this point. "Okay so let's play a game my friends and I used to play." She laughed out loud when she saw Victor's eyebrow shoot up at the mention of a game. "I promise it's not a stupid little girl game. It's really more of a truth or dare without the dare. We got bored coming up with stupid dares and decided to just ask each other questions. You don't have to answer if you don't want too, but it really helps to dispel awkward moments. You can go first."

He watched as Carrie sat back in her chair and popped her knuckles, obviously getting ready for anything he could dish out. He decided to ask a question he had been wondering for quite some time. "Hair color real?"

"Haha!" He gave her a small smile as she had to cover her mouth to keep her beer from flying out of it. "Really? Okay…yes, my hair color is real, and the carpet matches the drapes." He gave her a real smile at her blatant disregard for propriety. He watched as her smile widened at her success in getting him to relax. "You know Victor, you have a great smile. You should do it more often." Victor allowed his smile to dissipate into a small grin. He watched as she pulled her hair down from a bun and let it cascade down her shoulders. He smelled the cinnamon rolling off of her. He allowed the smell to cover all of his senses, and he felt his body suddenly lose itself in the comfort of her. "Okay, my turn. Um…exactly how old are you?"

He gave her an intense stare before answering the question with another question, "Why do you want to know?"

"I can just tell you have seen a lot. Eyes can tell us a lot about a person's soul. They are the window. So, how old?" Carrie leaned over the table as if to challenge Victor into not answering the question.

"Old." Victor leaned back and took a swig of his beer. He gave the girl a haughty lift of the eyebrows at her obvious disappointment.

"Oh come on. You can't dodge the questions. Then there would be no point to the game."

Victor appeared to consider her explanation, " Well over one-hundred." He had to laugh as he watched her eyes grow inside of their sockets.

"Are you serious?"

"Nope, my turn to ask a question," he almost laughed again as he watched her lean back in her chair and take a swig similar to the one he had just taken. "Why did you save that girl today?"

He felt the room's atmosphere suddenly take on a much more serious feel. He watched as her eyes appeared to look at nothing, while she considered her answer. "She needed someone… just like I did."

He felt his heart pull at the obvious reference to himself. She saved that girl, because he had saved her. Is that what she was saying? "Those men could have hurt you, but you helped her anyway." He watched as her eyes stared directly into his own.

"You could have been hurt, but you helped me anyway." He felt his anger rise at the comparison between the two of them. He was nothing like her. He had only saved her because those men were interfering with his observation. She had saved that girl out of the goodness of her heart, and he had no heart.

Carrie stood from the table as she watched Victor stalk towards the window. She could feel the anger radiating from him, but she couldn't let him leave without knowing what she had done to ruin the evening.

Victor was just about to leap out the window when he saw her small figure block it. "I didn't get my turn to ask a question." She nearly dove out of the way, as he came at her.

"We are nothing alike!" She felt his breath on her face and could smell the beer on it. The smell was nearly intoxicating. "I am a killer Carrie." She watched as his tortured eyes turned away from her.

She reached out a tentative hand and placed it on his cheek. "Then why haven't you killed me yet?"

He closed his eyes only to see her face again. She was making him face those demons regardless of what he did to her. "I could break your neck without giving it one thought." He could feel her tense under his touch. He rubbed the part of her neck where his hand had once held her against the wall.

"You won't hurt me, Victor." He heard the confidence in her voice, even if her body language said differently. He couldn't smell fear on her yet, but he was going to prove to her he was dangerous.

"What makes you think I won't?"

"Don't make me prove it to you." Her eyes held a fearful determination about them. She was going to prove to him he wasn't dangerous. Someone was going to win this battle tonight.

"Prove it." Victor watched as the small woman in front of him gathered up all of her courage and smacked him across the face. He stumbled back at the mere shock of this woman's bravado. He gave her a warning growl as she approached him again. He saw the fiery determination burning in her eyes as she pushed him against her wall.

"You want to hurt me. Then hurt me!!" She took another swing which contacted with his face again. She had him sitting on the ground in front of her when she saw how broken this man was. He didn't even try to fight her off. She squatted down to face him and nearly lost herself when he turned his face away from her. He was not going to win this battle. "Victor, look at me." She gently touched the reddened cheek and brought his face to look at her. "As badly as you want to believe you are a killer by nature, you're not. A killer would have at least beaten me to the ground for striking them. Every sinner has a future and every saint has a past. No one in this world is perfect Victor." She placed her other hand on his opposite cheek and brought her lips against his. She wanted to give him some kind of comfort in this battle he was raging with himself. "I'm sorry…I'm sorry" She whispered into his lips in between soft yet deeply heart felt kisses. Carrie felt her tears falling down her cheeks at the pain this man was feeling. She wanted to hurt everyone who had ever told him he was nothing more than a brainless killer.

Victor's head beat against his skull every time she laid her soft lips on his. She was giving him comfort in ways he had never felt before. He tasted her tears as she kissed his lips. He tasted the strength and the passion this woman had in those few soul bending moments. He gently wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into his chest. He had to feel all of her at that moment. He had to feel the comfort for once. He was so tired of the constant disregard of emotion, and at that moment he felt himself break for the first time in nearly one-hundred years. He allowed himself to let go of the pain of being called a monster. He let go of the hate, anger, and complete loneliness. He let his tears mingle with the strong woman in his arms. He felt her hands wiping them away, and he knew this was something they both needed from each other. This woman needed him as much as he needed her.

Carrie caressed the broken man's face as he wept silent tears along with her. She saw as her tears of hate, loneliness, and relief mingled with his. She wrapped both of her arms around the man holding her and felt her body completely relax into his embrace. She felt her eyes grow heavy as the feeling of complete release filled her body. She breathed in the dark smell of the man she was holding and fell into a peaceful slumber.

Victor looked down at the woman in his arms. Her body was completely compliant in his grasp. He could feel her steady heart beat against his chest and knew she was sleeping. He leaned his head against the wall behind him and lifted her hand to his mouth to kiss it gently. She was his sanctuary at that moment. He still didn't know what he felt for this woman or why he was now completely connected to her, but he knew there was no turning back now. He gently rose to his feet with the sleeping woman still in his grasp and walked her over to the bed. He laid her down on the mattress and covered her with the blanket at the end of her bed. He watched as she took a shaky breath and rolled over towards him. He gently trailed a dangerously, clawed nail down her cheek. He knew he could break her and probably would, but he also knew he would do anything for this woman. She held him closer than anyone ever had in his entire life. He took one last look at the sleeping woman on the bed and took the few steps necessary to exit her apartment. He felt the coldness of the world embrace him the second he exited her warm apartment.

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_**Who doesn't long for someone to hold**_

_**Who knows how to love you without being told**_

_**Somebody tell me why I'm on my own **_

_**If there's a soul mate for everyone.**_

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--The song _Soulmate_ by Natasha Bedingfield was kind of my inspiration for this story. I thought the lyrics were just beautiful and just so true. Everyone should give it a listen. Anyway, love all of the reviews and please keep it up. I will be working on Chapter 5, which I am really excited about. Please review. Love ya!


	5. Chapter 5

--Hey everyone, sorry about the long wait. But graduation parties and baby showers had to be attended. Not to mention a crazy garage sale, but here is chapter 5 and get ready for a crazy ending to this chapter!

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Chapter 5

As the weeks wore on, Victor's visits became a ritual for them. Carrie would leave work every day more excited than the last. She would always cook dinner or order out, even if he didn't eat a thing. The first few nights were a little awkward, considering the emotional war they participated in the night before. But after a few nights of finding comfort in each other's company, they discovered a trust and friendship they had both been missing. Victor never brought up his past, and Carrie figured it was for the best. She probably didn't want to know what his past held.

Carrie was particularly excited as she bounded down the hall from her office. Tonight was a Friday night, which meant she didn't have work the next day. She hated kicking Victor out during the week, but she knew she needed sleep. She didn't need sleep on Friday's though. Carrie sauntered down the hall carrying her new computer, when Jackie caught up to her by the stair well.

"Hey girl, got plans for tonight?" Carrie knew she was probably blowing off some of her friends to be with Victor, but Jackie always understood when it came to men.

"No, not really, I'm kind of having dinner with a male friend though," Carrie laughed as Jackie's eyes grew larger.

"Ewww, girl! I didn't know you had a man. Why didn't you tell me?" Jackie's eyes took on a look between excitement and disappointment. Carrie hated not telling Jackie everything, but Victor was already secretive enough. She also couldn't picture Victor doing a double date thing.

"He's not really _my_ man. He's just some guy who is really fun to hang out with."

"Oh, well that's cool too." Carrie smiled with relief at her friend's acceptance. "Well, me and some of the girls were going out tonight. We even told the temp to come. We are going to get her so drunk!" Jackie laughed at the idea of the nosy temp getting what was coming to her.

"You guys have fun with that and don't get into too much trouble."

"We'll try!" Jackie yelled behind her as she jumped into the car with her man of the hour.

Carrie shook her head, as she watched the car speed off. She decided tonight she would just grab some Chinese, so cleaning would not be an issue. Carrie got back home with enough time to change into something comfortable and get the food out. She rushed in through the door, dumped the bags of food on the counter, and ran into her room to put on her shorts and her favorite t-shirt. She checked herself in the bathroom mirror and smiled with satisfaction. Her long legs held no more bruises on the porcelain skin, and her ribs felt as good as new. She decided to leave her long, red hair down, so she flipped her hair once and put the loose strands behind her ears. Suddenly she began to wonder why on earth she was checking herself out. She wasn't trying to impress Victor…_was she?_

Victor stood on the ledge of Carrie's window looking in at the warm, gentle apartment. This apartment had been his home for the past few weeks. Carrie had become his escape from the world around him. He watched as her shadow danced under the door of the bathroom. He figured she was probably prepping herself for his visit. He remembered asking her awhile back why she continuously prepped herself for outings and him. He laughed as he remembered her smart ass remark, "What makes you think I prep for you? Maybe I just take pride in how I look, unlike you, 'Mr. I haven't shaved in over one-hundred years'." He had swiftly tackled her onto the bed and licked her face for that comment.

Victor stepped into the room and hid behind the bathroom door, just as Carrie was making her exit from the bathroom. He watched as she walked over to the food and began taking it out of the bag. He stalked near her lithe body, without making a single sound.

Carrie was just starting to put down the last box of Chinese, when she felt two strong arms wrapping around her waste and pulling her back into a wall of muscle. As she realized who it was she allowed her heart beat to calm down. "You ass!" She turned and punched the large man in the chest, successfully causing her more pain than him.

"Don't act like you're not happy to see me." Victor gave her a toothy grin, as he successfully got a blush out of her.

"Yeah…whatever." She knew it wasn't the greatest comeback, but she was too enthralled by the sight of his smile. She wasn't kidding when she had told him he had a great smile. Every time she saw that smile her stomach did knots at the sight of it. The canines held the strangest combination of danger and sensuality. She didn't know whether to feel threatened or turned on by it. She decided it was turned on tonight. "Do you want something to eat or not?" She stopped talking when she realized he was still holding her waist.

Victor realized he was still holding her waist and immediately backed away. He had forgotten how completely free she made him feel. He stepped back and walked over to the food. He turned his nose up when he saw it was Chinese again. "We had Chinese a couple of days ago."

"So what, are you too good for it now? I got different stuff than last time." Carrie watched as he lifted the box tops. He could be such a child sometimes.

"Chinese food is Chinese food, Carrie." She watched him turn away from the food and take a seat in the chair in front of her. "It's all greasy and leaves you wanting more."

"Wow! That sounds just like you huh?" Carrie laughed when she saw his eyes look up at her from under his thick eyebrows. He gave her one of his smirks and a low growl grew from his throat. Crap, he loved this game. Whenever she gave him a smart ass comment, he always felt the need to "punish" her. The strange thing was she kind of liked it. "No Victor! I just got off of work and I'm tired." Carrie struggled to sound firm as the warning came out as more of laugh, plus she was anything but tired. She knew it was futile. She decided evacuating was the best option.

Victor gave her a wider smile when he saw her sad attempt at retreating. He jolted from the chair and ran directly for her. He laughed out loud when he heard her combination scream and laugh. He grabbed her up from her waist and threw her with one arm over his shoulder.

"Victor! Put me down you stupid jerk!"

"You know the rules, Carrie. You can make all of the little smart ass comments you want to, but I will always make you pay."

"Okay! Ow! Ow! You're hurting me." Victor immediately set Carrie down and started to apologize, when he saw the smile tracing her delicate lips. "Gotcha!" He reached for her again, as he realized she had completely fooled him. She dodged his grasp and leaped onto his back. He tripped at the foot of the bed and fell onto the bed with her still in tow. As he fell, he swiftly maneuvered his body so she landed on top of his stomach, to prevent crushing her. Carrie knew he could easily over power her, but she loved the rare moments he allowed her to win. "Do you give up?" She sat straight up on his stomach and gasped when she felt his hands lower to cover her thighs.

"Yeah, just because I like the position."

Carrie tried to think of a cute comeback but was losing train of thought. He was slowly raking his claws down the length of her thighs. God, it felt so good, but she was brought back to reality as she remembered the position they were in. She quickly climbed off of his stomach and began walking back into the kitchen. She couldn't understand how he could elicit these types of feelings from her. She knew he was emotionally fragile, and she could not risk hurting this man. She would love nothing more than to tackle him to the bed and continue what they were doing, but she knew neither of them was ready for that.

Victor knew he was losing control of the situation. His whole body ached to feel her pressed into his, but she was so fragile. She was probably scared of him too. He sat at the edge of the bed and watched as she placed her hands on the counter top to steady herself. Her body was moving slowly with each breath she took. It looked as if she was going to collapse into herself with each inhalation. Victor rose from the bed and walked over to her figure. He placed a single arm around her mid section to steady her breathing. It reminded him of the first time he had touched her like this, after her ribs had been kicked. He subconsciously tightened his grip as the thought of her being attacked flashed across his memory.

Carrie leaned into the embrace and felt the comfort fill her entire body. It was almost as if he knew why she was struggling with herself. She shivered as she felt his mouth lean against the back of her head. "Let's go somewhere." She felt his lips move against her hair and his breath dance across her neck at his suggestion. His sensuality literally took her breath away. She couldn't remember ever feeling this way with David.

"Okay." Her voice sounded thick and weak all at the same time, and Victor heard it. He knew she was struggling, but his whole body was shaking against her back with the effort of controlling himself. "Where do you want to go?"

"Anywhere…" She heard as the word came out as nearly a growl. She suddenly realized they were holding on by one single thread. She took a deep breath and slowly moved her body away from his in an effort to distance herself. She slowly lifted her head to look into the eyes she knew would be her undoing. His eyes were completely black with longing. The one thing she had grown to adore about Victor was his ability to express any emotion through his eyes, if he wanted to. His mouth was slightly open in an effort to control his own breathing, and his hand appeared to be breaking the counter top as he squeezed it. "Carrie…" Her heart wrenched at the agony she heard expressed in her name.

It was as if the whole world fell away, as he took one stride to meet her at the wall. Her body failed her as his lips crashed onto hers. He wrapped one arm tightly around her waist and pressed the other against the wall behind her. She felt every emotion in that one instant. She felt him breath her name against her lips as he pulled back for a moment. She couldn't take the complete torture of the distance. She grabbed the back of his head and pulled him down to her as if he were a life jacket. She nipped his bottom lip and moaned into his mouth when she felt his tongue run along her own. She felt his every moan in her mouth as she ran her tongue along his canines. She was completely losing herself in this man, and what scared her most was the fact she might not care. "Victor, we have to stop." Her voice came out as more of a whimper. The thought of stopping was causing her physical pain.

"Why?" He knew he asked her the question a lot, but in this very moment he had to hear a logical reason. His whole body was shaking with suppressed emotion. He felt her pull herself up by his neck and lean into his ear.

"Because you and I both know we can't do this." She nearly sobbed when she felt him pull away from her. She watched with horror as he began walking to the open window. "Victor, please!" She sighed with relief as he stopped at the sound of her voice. She walked up to his stilled figure and placed a hand on his taught back. She could feel the muscles straining with the effort he was making to please her. She knew he had to be in physical pain, and it killed her to know it was because of her. "Victor, please stay." She wanted to kick herself at her own selfishness. She knew he was hurting, but she couldn't stand for the night to end like this. "I'm sorry…"

Victor turned and placed one giant hand against her cheek. He trailed his fingers down the length of her neck and felt her lean against his touch. She apologized for so much, but only ever did what was good. He knew he was evil, but never apologized for it. She placed her hand over his in an attempt to hold him to her. "I will see you tomorrow."

She heard the sadness in his voice, but knew he was right. They needed some space to figure out where they stood. Both of them knew they could not enter something as strong as this without consequences. "Okay…" She let go of his hand and watched it fall limply back to his side. She had been the only thing holding him to her. He had given her complete control for a few brief moments.

Victor turned and walked the last few paces to the window. Without a second look back, he leaped from her window and down to the earth below. He knew the second he hit the ground reality would swallow him whole. She was a human, he was a mutant. They would be hunted. She would be hunted. He stared into blackness of the night, which used to comfort him, but now only brought the painful truth into light…_he could never love her._

Carrie slunk back to her bed after closing the window. Her mind was racing with the night's events. She wanted nothing more than to leap out the window after him, but she knew, even if she could, he was long gone. _How could the night go from complete bliss to complete hell?_ She covered her eyes with her hands and drifted off into a horrible night's sleep.

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Victor walked into his crappy apartment and slung his coat against the wall watching as it crumpled on the floor. He took a deep breath and sat down on his large bed. He suddenly became aware of a figure in the room and instinct suddenly took over. He heard movement coming towards him and let out a feral roar as his claws came into contact with flesh. He watched as his "associate" crumpled to the floor and disappeared, as if it were a ghost. "Okay David, get your ass out here."

He growled as his associate walked out from the shadows of his room. "Awww, you killed me." David let out an annoying laugh as he produced another clone of himself to clean up the mess he just made.

"What do you want David?" Victor growled out loud. He hated it when David made house calls.

"Victor you have not been returning my calls." David allowed himself to become nothing but business at that moment. "Where have you been? It's like you just dropped off the planet. We have a business to run Victor," David's voice began to grow with the rising anger, "and you're running it into the ground!!" David sent off twenty copies of himself, which all proceeded to pin Victor to the wall. David slowly walked over to the pinned, feral man and stood right in front of Victor. He watched as Victor impaled several of his copies, but they held strong at David's command. "Look, Victor we can work something out, but I'm going to need you to cooperate with me. Okay?" David lowered his eyes as he watched Victor bare his teeth at him. David, loosing his patience, reached out and slapped Victor across the face. David smiled as he got Victor's full attention.

"I swear one day I'm going to kill you David. Not one of your clones, but you." David laughed at Victor's attempt to be threatening while being pinned to the wall.

"Well maybe Victor, but you're going to have to figure out which one is me first. As I was saying, you need to pull your head out of your ass and start making some kills." David went to his brief case and pulled out a phone. He placed it on the bed, "I believe you broke your last one, Vick. Oh, and I also heard it through the grape-vine you were hangin out with some chick." Victor's eyes narrowed at the mention of Carrie.

"She has nothing to do with us!!" Victor nearly roared as he bit a finger off of one of the clones that got too close.

"Victor, such violence. Okay, if you get back to work I will ignore this girl, but the next time I have to come back I am going to find her, kill her, and make you watch. Mkay?" Victor launched out of the clones grasp and felt his hand come into contact with David's flesh. He looked on as David smiled at him, and then disappeared. He screamed in complete rage as he realized David had sent his multiples to his work.

Victor's eyes saw red as he looked down at the phone David's clone had left. He picked it up and dialed an all too familiar number. His eyes became darker as David's familiar voice answered, "Well hello Victor. I knew you would come to your senses."

Victor's voice lowered as he took on the voice of Sabertooth, "Who's the next target?"

David smiled through the phone, "Good boy."

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--So is this Carrie's David or a new one? You will have to stay tuned!

---Please review!!!


	6. Chapter 6

--Hey guys! Thanks for the reviews!

--Sorry it has taken awhile for this chapter, but sickness is a bummer. Anyway, please keep reviewing and if you haven't reviewed, let me know what you think. Luv ya guys!

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Chapter 6

Carrie woke up the next morning groggy and unsatisfied with her night's sleep. The only comforting thoughts she could fathom were that today was Saturday and Victor would be coming over that night. She decided she would shower off the crappy night's sleep, clean the apartment, do a bit of the work she brought home, and then get some more sleep before Victor came over. Carrie dragged herself to her shower and tried to wash away the horrible night before. She couldn't wait for Victor to get there.

She recalled one reason she could not sleep was her nagging emotions eating away at her. She had spent most of the night trying to come to terms with how she felt about Victor. She had chunked it down to: she loved being with him, he made her laugh, and he did things to her body David never could have done. Then the cons: she knew nothing about his past, he was extremely shady, and a bit on the unpredictable side. She still couldn't figure out if she liked the unpredictability or despised it.

After going over all of her thoughts from the night before, Carrie decided she should start cleaning if she was going to get every thing done before Victor arrived. She pulled her long hair back into a sloppy pony tail, as she made her way over to the supplies under her sink. As she opened the cupboard, she realized she was completely out of almost all of her cleaning supplies. "Well, better add a trip to the supermarket to the list." She sighed to herself as she got on her shoes, grabbed her purse, and headed out the door.

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Victor stood on the ledge of his apartment building looking out over the city. He had made his way up there after the talk with David the night before. He knew he needed to clear his head if he was going to do this right. "Carrie…" He allowed himself to merely whisper her name. He shouldn't even be allowed to think it, let alone say it out loud. But he knew after tonight there was no going back. He would be the animal for the rest of his god forsaken life, and no one like that deserved what she was offering. He had allowed his heart to soften for the last time and now it was frozen solid wrapped in a steal cage of hate.

He went over the last of the details in his head. He was going to enter the building as stealthily as possible and get into his office. Walter Luvitts always worked on Saturdays, because he didn't do any work during the week. He let his mind wander to the first time he had met Carrie in that elevator. He smiled to himself as he remembered her excessive ranting over the guy. _God, he could not stop thinking about her_. He had really let her do a number on him. He closed his eyes and could smell her unique scent of cinnamon and warmth. He would always carry her around with him in the back of his mind. He would allow the thought of her, during only the darkest of times. He thought about how she would be waiting for him tonight by her window. She might wait for him for awhile, but she would eventually move on and find someone who could love her the way she needed to be loved. Maybe, one day he would check up on her and see how she was doing. No, he could never let his heart go through that again.

Victor let his eyes rove over the city, as the morning sun turned into noon then slowly melted into the redness of the evening. He savored the beauty of the red sky and thought how it reminded him of _her_ hair, wild and strong, just like the sky. He would never say _her_ name again.

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Carrie got home just in time to start working on the cleaning. She dusted, swept, mopped, and scrubbed. She had done quite a number on that apartment, and as a second thought, she had taken all of David's things and put them away. She opened her window to let the cool, night air wash over her tired body. She was moving on, and it was all thanks to Victor Creed. She let her mind wander to the man who had successfully pulled her outside of herself. His dark eyes had watched her grow from a woman so wrapped up in her own problems she had failed to see the pain of those around her. Those strong arms had held her up as she struggled with the self loathing that came with that knowledge. And his lips had sealed her fate to be forever faithful to that man. She smiled as she went over what she would say to him that night. She walked over to the mirror to practice. "Vic…" As a last thought she pulled her hair down to give herself a better angle. "Victor, I know I told you last night neither one of us is ready for such a big step. But…I slept on it last night, and I quite honestly can't picture my life without you. I want you to know I am willing to wait if you're not ready, but I will let you know I am ready to take on whatever the world has in store, because…I think I'm in love with you." She gave one last look in the mirror and frowned at her messy attire. She figured she better look a little better than this, if she was going to bare her soul to a known felon.

Carrie jumped out of the second shower of the day and walked over to her lap top. She figured she might as well get started on her stuff from work before Victor plowed in. As Carrie sat down at her little computer desk to get started, she realized she had left everything she was supposed to finish this weekend in her office. She hated going back into work on the weekends, "Great, just great." Carrie got up in a huff and threw on her jacket. She remembered how her boss always worked on the weekends, so she figured she could make a quick trip up there, grab her work, and be back before Victor. It would be a piece of cake. Carrie grabbed her work badge and headed out the door. At least, it was a pretty evening. Carrie watched the sun make its last hurrah before disappearing behind the high rise buildings.

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"Damn it!" Walter Luvitts cursed, as he attempted to correct another error missed by his 'reliable' accountants. "Where is all this money going?" He checked it over again and still couldn't find how they had lost a $4 million account. He figured someone was going to have a horrible day finding a new job on Monday. He took one last, meaningless look at the computer screen and decided to take a break. Walter stood and stretched his back. He figured a coke would give him some new found energy. As Walter left the office, he failed to see two slightly glowing eyes outside his office's darkened window.

Walter was walking back into his office, with a cold drink in his hand, when he noticed the eerie feeling of someone watching him pricking at his mind. He ran into his office and shut the door behind him, just in case someone was following him. He gave a sigh of relief; as he turned to face his desk, only to suck it back in again. In his desk chair sat a man of medium height, with fierce blue eyes, and a smug grin on his face. "Da…Dav…David! What are you doing in my office?" Walter could barely breathe as the sight of the arrogant man in front of him sunk in.

"Walter, you really think you could just skip town and forget all about us?" David's grin grew even wider as the dangerous man, known as Sabretooth, tore himself from the comforting shadows to eclipse the terrified Walter.

"David, please. I paid you in full, after you killed my father." Walter's voice began to take on the desperate pleading, common to those who knew they were fixing to meet their demise.

"Oh, we know Walter. You just forgot about the interest you owe us."

"Interest? What Interest?" Walter wanted to sound indignant and angry, but it was all coming out as whiney and terrified.

"You're a billionaire Walter. You figure it out."

Sabretooth began stalking toward the terrified man, as he felt the man's terror flood his senses. He could smell it pooling off of the man, and it was beginning to overwhelm him. He wanted to tear into the man's pitiful flesh and listen to him cry out as blood filled his nostrils.

"Look, David, call of your buddy here, and I'm sure we can work something out." Walter was backed into the wall with his hands held out in front of him in a feeble attempt to ward off the evil approaching him.

"Why would I want to work out anything with you? You left all of your accounts open for me to look for myself." David gave a sideway's grin to the man panicking in the corner. David couldn't control the laugh that escaped his throat, as his statement registered on Walter's face. All of his information was on the computer screen in front of David. "I appreciate the attempt though. You were always a fun associate, Walter. Victor, could you do the honors."

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Carrie was making her way up the stairs as terrified screams reached her ears. All of her basic instincts, telling her to run, were ignored as she climbed the last flight of stairs. "I'm coming!" Carrie ran towards the sound of choking screams, as fast as her small body could carry her. She stood outside her boss's closed door, as she realized this is where the screams were coming from. She shook away the fear, put a shaking hand on the handle, and swung open the door. Her body went slack as she watched her boss gag on his own blood, while being lifted up a wall by one clawed hand. She covered her mouth to prevent the screams pushing to the surface. She watched with horror as her boss was then flung against the opposite wall of the room to slowly die. She watched Walter take a few shuddering breaths and then silence. Carrie gripped the wall, when she finally looked up to find her boss's killer.

Victor, finally purged of his need to kill, stared at the terrified woman in the doorway. Neither said a word as Carrie turned and emptied her stomach on the floor. David was jerked from his work at the computer, at the sound of a woman sobbing through her vomit. "What is it now? I was just sending all the money..." David's mouth dropped at the sight of his staggering wife. He watched on with a mix of pity and arrogance as recognition flooded her eyes.

"What the hell is this?" Her voice was only a pained whisper, as she stared into her 'dead' husband's face.

"Well, this sucks. Don't it Vic?" David shook his head at the stupidity of his lost wife. "Will you take care of her Vic? I am almost done with this, and there is no point to witnesses."

"No." Victor's voice was low, and dangerous. David looked up from the computer at his associate's blatant refusal.

"Excuse me…"

"Victor, what is this?" Both were pulled out of there tiff as the sickly woman in front of them staggered further into the room.

"Wait, how does she know you? Oh my God! She is the woman you have been seeing!" David was a jumbled mess of anger and humor. "This is so bizarre!"

"Who are you, cause my husband is dead?" David stared at Carrie as he began to stand from his chair and stalk toward her. He saw the fear in her eyes as she watched her 'dead' husband come to her.

"I am your dead husband and because of your stupidity, I have to kill you."

"She was your wife!" Victor couldn't believe what was transpiring in front of him. He watched as the terrified red-head stood in front of the man she once loved. He watched as tears streamed down her face at the realization that both men she ever cared about were murderers.

"Why David?" Her question was spoken in complete shock at her ex-husband's audacity.

"Because I got tired of you, Carrie." He began to pull his gun from his holster as he continued to crush the woman he had once promised the world to. "Yeah, I enjoyed the sexy body and hair. The sex was nice too, but I just wanted something new." David reached out his hand and ran it through her matted hair.

Carrie pulled away from his touch to lean back against the wall behind her. She wanted to kill this man for doing this to her. Her mind drifted to all of the sleepless nights she had cried over his death. "So all of it was a lie?! I cried over you every night you stupid bastard!" She wanted to claw his heart out when he pointed the barrel of the gun at her.

"Like I said, 'you were a nice lay'. Plus, I needed Victor to 'kill me'", David used his fingers to quote the last two words smugly, "so I could get away from you and continue my work with him. He really is a great assassin." David watched triumphantly as Carrie's eyes drifted towards Victor, but stopped before they could reach his eyes. David smiled at the desperate sadness in Victor's eyes.

"How could you have been so kind to someone you never had feelings for?!" Carrie couldn't understand. He had held her at night and kissed her lips. He had been so loving to her.

"Oh sweetheart," Carrie's eyes turned deadly at David's condescending tone, "my clones were told to cater to your every whim. That's so sweet. You thought they were me." David figured he was probably doing her a favor by killing her. He gave one last look at his lost wife. "By sweethe…." As the words were about to leave his mouth, he felt his entire body being crushed against the wall. Victor had his large hand around David's throat, slowly ending his life.

"You promised not to hurt her, but you broke the deal. That means, I get to break your neck." Victor felt all of the rage building in his body, as David's mouth gaped like a fish. Victor was about to give the final twist of his fingers to end the pathetic man's life, when he felt hundreds of hands grabbing him. With his last bit of strength, David had created hundreds of multiples to pull Victor away.

David fell to the ground the second he felt Victor's hand release his neck. "You tried to kill me you son of a bitch!" David lifted a hand and tenderly touched the bruising flesh. "Guess I have to kill you and your whore girlfriend." David reached for the gun he thought was still in its holster, only to come into contact with emptiness. Just as he remembered dropping it when Victor tackled him, he heard the distinct sound of a gun cocking behind him. David slowly turned to face the woman he had so badly scorned.

"You're not killing anyone." Carrie's eerily, calm voice oozed into David's bones, causing the actual fear of death to reach the forefront of his mind.

"Baby…I"

"I am not your baby!" Carrie knew she looked crazy. Her hair was wild and her eyes were the eyes of a killer. She wanted to see him dead. She wanted him to pay for causing that pain to resurface, for causing new wounds on her already scarred heart.

Victor watched as the innocent woman in front of him allowed herself to be taken over by a killer. He saw himself in her eyes. Those hazel eyes were turning black with hate and that trigger finger was not letting up. He couldn't watch her become what he had become so many years ago.

As David watched Carrie point the gun closer to his head, to guarantee a perfect kill, he forgot all about his multiples surrounding Victor. Victor suddenly felt the clones dispersing around him into thin air. And as the last few multiples surrounding him were pushed off, Victor sprinted towards David with everything he had. Victor felt the bullet slide through his chest as he watched David fall to the ground.

"Victor!!" He heard Carrie scream for him in complete horror. He couldn't tell if she was mad at not killing David or mad at him for stopping her.

David lay on the ground thanking God for allowing him to live. But just as the thankful prayer was about to leave his mouth he once again felt a strong hand wrap around his bruised neck.

Victor picked up the piece of shit man and pounded him against the wall, so he would begin to loose consciousness. "I told you one day I would kill you." And just like that, Victor snapped the man's neck, successfully ending his disgusting life. Victor slumped against the wall, as he touched the bloody wound on his chest.

"Why did you do that?" He looked up to see Carrie's broken body drop the gun to the floor. She looked so confused and lost; all he wanted to do was wrap her in his blood soaked arms.

"Because you're no killer, Carrie. I couldn't watch you turn into me." Carrie looked on with mixed emotions as her now, dead husband's body lay twisted on the ground, and the man she loved sat bleeding against the wall. Without a second thought she fell into his bloody chest. She knew he was a murderer, and once she came to her senses, she would never want to see him again, but at that moment he was her pillar of strength and comfort. She felt his strong arms embrace her and all of the pain came rushing out of her. She began to sob for the lost years of her life. She had wasted so much time on a man who didn't even love her, only to fall in love with a murderer.

Victor held on to the broken shell of a woman, knowing he had to let her go, but not at that moment. He would hold her as long as she needed him too.

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_His music's irresistible_

_Your voice makes my skin crawl_

_Innocent and pure_

_I guess you've heard it all before_

_Mister inaccessible _

_Will this ever change?_

_One thing that still remains the same_

_Is…you're still a picture in a frame _

_Lost in this world_

_I even get lost in this song_

_And when the lights go down_

_That is where I'll be found_

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--Wow, one more chapter after this one.

--I think I will be writing two alternate endings cuz I can't choose which one I want. But the song at the end is _Lost_ by Anouk. It is such a pretty song, but very sad.

--Let me know what you think about this chapter guys! Thanks again to all who have been reviewing. I am so glad you all are reading my story! Thanks and keep on reviewing!


	7. Chapter 7

------Sorry it has taken me so long guys! I had school then I needed some inspiration, but hey I will complete this before the weeks out. I promise!

-------Thank you so much for still reviewing on my story and not giving up on me. Please continue reviewing awesome readers!

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Chapter 7

Carrie's mind drifted in and out of consciousness. She knew she was safe, but she had no clue what was going on around her. The last thing she could remember was a gunshot and then falling into safe, bloody arms. She felt as if she were dreaming as street signs and car lights zipped past her line of blurry vision. _Was she dying?_ _Were the strong arms, holding her gently against a broad, muscular chest, the arms of an angel?_ Groggily she lifted her hand to touch the face of her savior, only to have the savior turn his face away from her. It must be an angel then, because humans can not touch the faces of angels…_right?_ Carrie's head began to scream as she tried to bring focus into her surroundings. Her head was aching so badly it felt as if it wanted to leap out of her skull, but she knew, somewhere in the back of her mind, she needed to know what was going on. She unsuccessfully tried to read the street signs as they passed her line of vision, but only created more pain in her brain from trying to focus. Finally, she decided it was best she simply allow this angel to take her where it must. It had a job to do, and she didn't want to be the person to mess it up for him.

Victor stared down at the bloody mess of a woman in his arms only to quickly avert his eyes in shame and disgust. He never meant for any of this to happen. He had held her in his arms hours after the horrible nightmare had ended. He figured she had passed out from the shock of it all, and he thanked The Almighty for that one blessed miracle. He couldn't bring himself to look at her though. Even when he heard the sirens and made his escape out of the window of the building with her securely in his grasp, he still did not look at the broken woman in his arms. Her body rested gently against his chest as he began the trek back to her apartment. He held her so tightly at one point he just knew he had caused her damage, but no, she was very much in tact. He watched as her eyes blearily looked up into his. His breath caught in his throat as her hand came up to touch his bloodied cheek. He painfully turned his head away from the gentle touch of the woman he longed for with everything he had. He didn't deserve to be touched by her.

He finally saw her building in sight and looked at the two ways into the building. Usually he would simply shimmy up the fire escape to her window, but as he looked down at the barely conscious woman in his arms he thought of a better idea. Shifting Carrie a little in his grasp, Victor gave himself a free hand and pressed every single call button by the door. As he listened to all of the screams coming from the box, he faintly smiled as he uttered the one word that would get any person to open their door fearfully, "Police!". He chuckled to himself as he heard the click from the door in front of him. His smile began to fade as the woman in his arms shifted to look up at him. His heart ached and his stomach wrenched as she graced him with a lucid smile. _God, this whole situation would catch up with her in a matter of moments, and her entire world will come crashing down on her again_. But this time he knew he had to be there for that moment. He opened the door to her apartment and gently placed her on her soft mattress. He sat down at the edge to the bed and watched her as she fought to keep the sleep at bay. He knew she needed it, and he was not about to disturb her. He stood up from the bed and started to head for the chair a few feet away, when he heard a groan. He looked over to see Carrie holding a hand out in his direction. He closed his eyes to capture the image forever. She was simply holding a hand out for him. She wanted him to be a source of comfort for her. He gently grasped her fingers in his own and felt her gently tug him down to the mattress. As he lay down on the warm mattress, Carrie wrapped an arm around his torso and laid her tear stained face against his arm. Victor was at a loss. He knew once she regained consciousness he would have to deal with the reality of everything that just took place, but until then he would hold her until she no longer wanted him to. He wrapped his arm around her waist securing her to his side, placed his other hand over hers on his torso, and thought of the inevitable heartbreak to come.

Carrie felt her body slowly beginning to obey her commands. She could feel the haze drifting out of her eyes, and the blissful carefree oblivion pulling away from her. She used her hands to access the situation at the moment. She moved her fingers over a broad chest and felt a sticky wetness covering the area. She became aware of nails gently stroking the outside of her thigh. She decided she needed to open her eyes to get a better view of what was happening. Slowly but surely Carrie opened her dreary eyes. Her eyes followed the path her hands had been taking down a **Bloody **chest! Her breath caught in her throat as she gasped at the macabre scene in front of her. Victor's chest was covered in blood, his hair was matted with more blood, and his whole body reeked of violence and death. Carrie could barely contain her screams with her hands as the whole scene from last night pushed itself roughly from the depths of her mind. She saw David's eyes as he told her he had never loved her. She muffled another scream as she remembered shooting Victor with a gun she had aimed at her "dead" husband's head. _**She had shot Victor! She shot him!**_ Carrie stumbled away from the bed and pressed herself against the wall to steady her body and crumbled to the ground. She watched as Victor slowly sat up from the bed to watch her emotional break down. Her hand shot up to stop him from getting any closer to her. "**I shot you in the chest!**" Her voice was shrieking to be heard over the sound of her own sobs. "I...I shot you!" She sobbed out in anguish as Victor began to slowly walk towards her. Through her tears she could see how he looked almost frightened at the scene in front of him. His black eyes didn't even blink as he approached her, as if one unsteady movement would break her forever.

He hated watching this. His heart felt as if she was stabbing a knife into it as she brought her hand up to ward him off. Her eyes were filled to the brim with the fear surrounding her. She was consumed by grief and fear. The grief and fear he brought into her life. If he had of just let her be, this would have never happened. She could be living happily with another man. His heart twisted at that thought. She shouldn't be drowning in grief and fear in a room with a known murderer. She should be happy, and as he stood there watching the scene unfold before him, he knew he could never make her happy. He could never give her the love she truly deserved. He could feel his heart twisting and stabbing through his chest. He slowly knelt before the distraught angel in front of him. He knew what he had to do, but he couldn't leave her like this. He slowly brought his hand up to grasp the hand held out in front of her, recalling how just hours before she had pulled him to her. Now he was trying to not allow her to push him away. "Carrie…" He was surprised at the gentleness of his own voice in that moment. "Carrie, look at me…" He watched with baited breath as she turned her drowning eyes to stare at him. "Carrie…I…" What could he say to her to make the situation better? His mind was screaming at him to say something, but he knew there was absolutely nothing he could say to take away the pain and betrayal behind those beautiful hazel eyes. He slowly reached out a hand and stroked away the tears on her cheek. Her eyes did not change. She appeared as if she was allowing her body to numb. He panicked at this revelation. He couldn't let her do that to herself. Her soul was a fire he wished he could match and watching her try to numb herself away from that blazing inferno was tearing his heart apart. "Carrie, please **look** at me!" She refused his eyes the pain of seeing her push away all emotion in her soul.

Finally, in desperation, Victor grabbed Carrie's face and brought it towards his own. He watched the shock melt away as she grasped hold of the situation again, and then watched as the pain turned to the anger welling up inside of her. Her eyes burned with fury as the memory of betrayal returned full force. Her shrieking came first, then the fists pounding at every inch of Victor's body. She lashed out screaming profanities at the top of her voice. "Bastard! You stupid bastard…" More sobs wracked her body every time she made contact with Victor's chest. She began to feel the pain subsiding as she slowly looked up into Victor's eyes. She couldn't be angry with him, as hard as she tried, she could not bring herself to hate him like she wanted to. She was just so tired of the pain David caused her. Both of his deaths were at her expense. David had caused her to shoot the man she loved, more than her own life, and now she was taking that anger out on him.

Carrie, finally exhausted from her rage, looked up into Victor's eyes to see the guilt radiating inside of them. Moving towards him slowly, Carrie placed her hands on each side of his face then leaned forward to gently claim his lips. She gasped as she felt him pull her body against his own in an unbridled passionate embrace. His lips caressed hers with a gentleness only seen in a lover. He pushed every bit of strength he had into that kiss. His arms held her to him as he tried to kiss away every bit of pain inside of her. He felt her arms wrap around his back and her nails began to scrape through his matted mane of hair. He moaned her name as she pressed her body further into his. She was drawing that comfort out of him any way she knew how. His heart ached when he remembered what he needed to do. He had to do this for her before it was too late. "Carrie,…wait." God her body felt so good. If he held her any longer he knew he could never let her go. He felt her moan into his mouth and felt his resolve twist away for a split second. Victor used every bit of strength he had to gently push her away from his aching body. As he pushed her away, he dared to stare into the desperate longing in those hazel eyes. They were dark with a passion meant only for him. He felt his body jolt with the pain of his next two words. "We can't."

He watched in horror as her body begin to shake uncontrollably from unshed sobs. "Why?!"

That single word was uttered with so much pain behind it he was surprised he still had the strength to look back into her eyes. He had to let her go. He would only continue to hurt her. She had no idea what he was capable of, and the man he truly was. "Carrie, look at your self. You don't deserve to have all this pain, and that is all I will ever cause you!"

"Victor, your presence makes the pain go away." She grasped the front of his shirt in a feeble attempt to get him to understand the shelter she finds in his arms. "I am falling apart, but you just being here, touching me, holding me is making that pain subside. Please don't push me away." Silent tears began to fall down her already raw cheeks. "Victor, I…I love you." She gasped when she felt him move away from her as if she were deadly. Her hands dropped to her sides in anticipation for a response.

He felt like she had burned him. He felt that warmth spread throughout his body at her declaration. She loved _**him**_. Why? What would posses her to do such a thing? He stood staring at her as it suddenly hit him. He loved her too; with everything in his body he loved her. He gripped the wall in an effort to keep himself from collapsing back into her arms. He had to do this the hard way. He felt his breath hitch for split second at the realization he had to break her further to give her the happiness she deserved. "You have no idea what love is Carrie. The man you thought loved you tried to kill you. You really think you love me? What makes you think I won't do the same?" His voice was steady as he watched the words cut through her exposed heart. She had exposed everything to him, and he had to rip it apart so she would stop loving him. He turned his head to hide the pain written all over his face. Then he reached down and pulled out Sabretooth, the only thing strong enough to break this woman. "I am a murderer Carrie, an assassin. I kill people not because I have to but because I love the feeling of watching the life drain from their useless bodies."

He closed his eyes at the scream that he knew was inevitable, but as he slowly opened them back up all he saw was her. She was standing right in front of him, looking up at him through red- rimmed, hazel eyes. "No, you're not." He stared in complete shock as she laid a gentle hand against his cheek. "Please don't do this to me. I need you to pull your head out of your ass and be the man I know you are." Her other hand reached up to cup his other cheek as she tried desperately to keep her composure in check. She could feel him pulling away from her, and it hurt worse than David's death ever did. "Please…Victor."

"My name is Sabretooth." He used every bit of anger built up in his system to push her away. He held her by her wrists but she refused to be pushed away.

"No, your name is Victor Creed! Please don't do this!" She was trying with everything in her to hold him. She knew if she could just hold him he would stop this madness. Victor was hanging on by a thread and the only way to stop this was to allow Sabretooth complete control, but he could not cause her that pain. He had to get out of there. He felt her pushing to hold him, and with everything he had he pushed her away. He watched as her body slammed against the wall and her eyes shot up into his with an anger that could rival Sabretooth's. He felt his control slipping away when she started back for more. "You really think after everything we have been through a push would get rid of me!" He watched that fire return to her eyes. That burning that promised to consume him if he really wanted it.

With the last bit of his resolve Victor Creed grabbed Carrie in the most viscous, passionate kiss he could bestow on a woman. He raked his fangs against her lips causing them to begin to bleed, but he merely licked it away causing her entire being to shutter from the sensuality of it. And with one last growl of frustration Victor pressed himself against Carrie and breathed in her scent, memorizing her forever. Pulling away from her he planted one last chaste kiss on her red lips, forcing himself not to utter the one phrase which would cause her to hang on forever, and then he bolted through her open window. He landed gracefully on the ground and took off into the night howling from the pain ripping through his heart.

Carrie put a shaky hand against the wall basking in the confession he had just given her through that kiss. _He had left her_. _He was gone_. She rushed to the window and looked out in a feeble attempt to see his figure, but it was hopeless. Her strength left with Victor and now all she felt was lost. She wanted to scream at him through her window. She wanted him to hear her angry sobs, but she could not hate him for his decision. She was foolish for ever falling for a man as untamed as Victor Creed. But no matter how foolish it was she would never stop loving him or regret that love.

After a few hours, Carrie finally pulled herself off the floor and began dragging her body to the bathroom. She looked into the mirror which only served to cause her more pain. Her lips were still swollen from the kiss. The blood had long since dried up and was now caked onto her chin. Turning on the shower, Carrie took off her bloodied clothes and proceeded to step into the freezing torrent of water. She felt herself gasp at the shock of the cold, but sat down in it to let the water wash away the shock of the day's events. She watched with morbid fascination as the caked blood in her hair was sucked up by the drain. The blood began to spin around the drain and then it was gone leaving nothing but clear water in its wake. She wished she could see the pain drain from her body and flow into the drain as easily. Carrie stayed in the shower so long she soon felt the cold diminishing leaving only warm water to claim her broken body. She finally grew tired of the warmth covering her body and climbed out of the shower. She picked up a towel and half heartedly dried off. Carrie then collapsed onto her bed with her hair still wet and the towel falling off her damp body. She rolled over only to be bombarded by Victor's scent. Carrie felt the tears pooling into her eyes, but could not bring up the strength to cry anymore. She grabbed the pillow which smelled the strongest of him and pulled it as close to her naked body as she could get it. As she lay there with his smell surrounding her, she could almost feel his soft breath in her hair comforting her until sleep finally took her.

_**You hold me without touch**_

_**You keep me without chains**_

_**I never wanted anything so much**_

_**Than to drown in your love and not feel your rain**_

_**Set me free, leave me be**_

_**I don't want to fall another moment into your gravity**_

_**Here I am and I stand so tall, just the way I'm supposed to be**_

_**You're onto me and all over me**_

_**------------------------------------------------------------------------**_

---That song is _Gravity_ by Sarah Bareilles and I felt it captured this chapter perfectly.

----Sorry again that it took so long just needed the inspiration you know

-----So are they going to be together or not? Guess you will have to find out. I know I put a lot of drama in this, but I don't have any of my own so I feel the need to put it in here. Haha!

-----Please keep on reviewing!! Love you guys


	8. Chapter 8

----Hey guys. I had a lot of fun writing this chapter!

----Please review!

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Chapter 8

Carrie sat by her window looking out into the darkness around her for the twenty first time, since Victor had left her. Every night for the past three weeks Carrie sat by her window looking for the man who held her heart firmly within his grasp. Some nights she swore she could hear him shuffling around in the dark alley below, but then a cat would never fail to leap out of a garbage can scaring her half to death. The first few nights she attempted to call for him, but then the tears would come when she couldn't get an answer and her voice became raw from screaming his name. Now, she simply sat by the window looking out quietly hoping to hear his breathing.

It wasn't like she didn't have the time, since everyone at work was given a paid vacation after the mysterious murder of Walter Luvitts. Police discovered contracts Luvitts had with quite a few shady characters. They chalked his death up to being Luvitts pissing off one of those shady characters through a broken contract. They really couldn't do much about it considering how little information they had to go on. Carrie had to admit she was a little nervous when she was questioned by the police about the murder. However, they only questioned her out of procedure considering she was the closest to Luvitts in the office. She recalled the questioning with a gentle smile on her face.

**One week ago**:

_"Excuse me Miss…uh…" Looking down at his notepad the nervous cop forgot why he even volunteered to talk to the slender red head before him. _

_Saddened hazel eyes turned towards the shaken cop before waving the "miss" off. "Carrie is fine." Pulling every bit of strength she had within her Carrie gave the officer a gentle smile of encouragement. He really was quite adorable. His sea blue eyes looked into hers with such kindness she knew he had to be a rookie. She watched as the cop ran a hand through his auburn hair in a sign of complete astonishment. _

"_Sorry about this…Carrie, but my name is Officer Adam Johnson." She smiled again as his obvious southern charm fought against his need to call her miss. "I just have to ask you a few questions if that's alright with you, mam'?" She could see the genuine sincerity in that question. He was not about to ask her a thing if she didn't want him too, but taking pity on the charming southern boy Carrie sat down and motioned to a chair in front of her for him to do the same. "Thank you," she watched as he sat down on the chair never taking his eyes off of her. "Now Carrie, what is your association with Mr. Luvitts?" _

"_Well, I was Mr. Luvitts' secretary." Carrie watched as the southern, boy cop nodded his head and scribbled something down on a notepad. _

"_Okay and how was your relationship with Mr. Luvitts?" _

"_It was fine, he was my boss. That is about as far as the relationship went." She gave a nervous chuckle as the cop scribbled down a few more notes on his handy dandy notepad. Then it occurred to her that this building was swarming with security tapes. She could be on one of the tapes. "Um, I have a question." She smiled when she saw his baby blues dart up at the opportunity to talk with her more. "I understand if it is confidential, but I was wondering if maybe you guys caught the killer. I mean the place is swarming with security cameras."_

_She watched as he gave her a sideways smile as if what he was about to say amused him. "Well, whoever committed the crime was not clumsy about it. All of the tapes were destroyed when we got into the security room. They were ripped to shreds, it almost looked like an animal had gotten to em'" He watched as a smile graced her red lips as she looked just as amused as he did. "Well I think that is about it. Thank you for your cooperation Miss Carrie." At that, he gave her a huge southern boy grin, ripped off the piece of paper he had been writing on, and laid it on the table next to them. "It was a pleasure meeting you." Then, he was gone._

Carrie looked at the paper still pinned up to the refrigerator. She read it to herself again: **Miss Carrie, let me just say you took my breath away. I know that was a pretty crummy rhyme, but I would love to get to know what goes on behind those gorgeous eyes of yours. Give me a call if you ever need a thing. My number is 911. **

**Sincerely, **

**Officer Adam Johnson**

She laughed to herself at the hilarity of the whole situation. She knew she wasn't ready for anything yet, but the note always helped to cheer her up on really rough days. Carrie slowly turned her head back out onto the dark skies in front of her. She just wanted to know if Victor was okay. _Did he ever think of her or had he already forgotten her?_ Carrie suddenly jumped as she was brought back from her thoughts by a knock on the door. Carrie got up and slowly walked towards her door. She was startled when the door suddenly opened on its own, only to be slammed back at the realization that the chain lock had not been taken off. "CHICKA! OPEN THIS DOOR!" Carrie laughed as she remembered Jackie was bringing food over to her tonight.

"Sorry…sorry." Carrie opened the door, grabbed a bag of food from her, and helped her haul it all into the house. At least, she thought it was food. Upon further inspection Carrie found Jackie's idea of grocery shopping was two bottles of tequila, one gallon of frozen tequila mix, one bottle of whiskey, and three bottles of rum with a few bags of chips and dip. "Jackie, this isn't food. These are supplies to start your own bar!"

"Well, that is where I am on a usual Friday night, hussy. And since I told you I was going to hang out with you tonight we are hanging out _my_ way." Carrie laughed as Jackie pulled out two chilled margarita glasses from the freezer, two shot glasses from the cupboard, and one large blender from under the sink. "We are going to get drunk and forget about work, men, and the world." Jackie then proceeded to turn the radio on to the local Hispanic station which was playing some song with enough bump to it to make the glasses on the counter rattle. Carrie laughed even harder as the woman came and grabbed her by the waist and began to do a sloppy salsa.

Carrie decided that this is exactly what she needed tonight. "Get me a shot!" She screamed over the blaring music.

"That is what I'm talking about!" Jackie grabbed one of the bottles of tequila and poured her a perfect shot. Carrie slammed the glass back and coughed as the liquid burned down her throat.

Three hours later both women were starting to feel the effects of their decision. Carrie was sprawled out on top of her bed with an empty margarita glass sitting on top of the nightstand and chip crumbs littering the white comforter. Jackie, being the professional drinker she was, was in the process of trying to find cookies in the house to blend with the margarita mix. "Jackie, I'm…a gonna be honest wit ya. Your idea of a…cookie margarita," Carrie slurred while covering her mouth as the thought of cookies caused bile to rise dangerously to the top of her throat, "sounds…disgusting."

"Well, you don't have any cookies anyway so my idea is…" Carrie looked up to see what had caused Jackie's sudden pause in her rambling, when she saw her take Officer Johnson's note off the fridge and smile mischievously at her. "Well…well…well…Officer Adam Johnson. And when were you going to tell me about this!" Carrie laughed as Jackie quickly grabbed the phone and leapt upon the bed. "We are going to call in a noise complaint to this Officer Johnson, pray he comes over, and then beg him to strip…"

Jackie was suddenly cut off as a drunk Carrie made a grab for the phone. "No! Come on Jackie, I only met the guy one time. Plus I'm drunk. What will he think of me looking like this?"

"An easy target…" Jackie laughed at Carrie's appalled look. "What? You know it was funny." Carrie swatted Jackie half heartedly as Jackie put the phone down. "Anyway it is your birthday tomorrow, the big twenty seven! You need to get laid Chicka." Jackie grabbed a pillow and wrapped her arms around it facing Carrie, who looked as if she were in shock. "You didn't forget your own birthday did you?"

"Crap, I guess I did." Carrie stared up at the ceiling in disbelief that she could forget her own birthday, completely disregarding the "getting laid" statement.

"Well the alcohol was my present to you. But the tequila is mine." Jackie pointed a wobbly finger at Carrie to emphasize her point.

"Jackie I have some bad news for you," Carrie gave Jackie a guilty little smile, "the tequila is all gone." Carrie began to laugh hysterically as Jackie grabbed her chest dramatically and gasped for air as if she were dying. "Sorry…"

Jackie began to laugh as well when she realized they still had two full bottles of rum to finish. "So, are we going to call the Officer or not?"

Carrie put her hand over her eyes as the alcohol began to turn on her. "Maybe tomorrow, Jackie. I am in no shape to see anyone right now."

Jackie laughed at her light weight friend. "You need to build up your strength with me, chicka. I will take you and Mr. Officer Adam Johnson out with me this weekend to the bar. You just have to call him." Jackie placed the phone in the hand not covering Carrie's head and gave her a playful peck on the cheek.

"Do I have too?!" She began to laugh as Carrie's voice took on that of a three-year-olds.

"Yes, you have to call him. You are twenty seven, Carrie, time for you to get some testiculos!" Jackie grabbed herself where her own tesiculos would be.

"I'm impressed. You have always had bigger balls than me, Jackie."

Jackie smiled raunchily, "Chicka, I have bigger testiculos than most men!"

Carrie smiled warmly at her promiscuous friend, "Do you need to stay the night? Cuz, I am not letting you drive home."

Jackie gave a slight wave of the hand to confirm her drunkenness, "Oh I know, I took a taxi to get here so I will just call for another one to get me home. That is unless you want me to sleep with you tonight. I am quite the cuddler."

Carrie laughed out right at her friend's antics, "No, I think I will be okay tonight."

"Okay girl, but you know my number if you need anything else." Jackie grabbed her cell phone out of her purse and began dialing the number for a cab.

Carrie rolled out of bed to walk her friend to the door. "I know your number. I'm pretty sure I could walk up to a random person on the street and they could tell it to me if I forget."

"Oh ha…ha." Carrie gave her slightly less drunk friend a hug before she opened the door to leave. "Oh, and don't think I have forgotten about Officer Sexy. You better give him a call, cuz if you don't…I will." Jackie gave her a mischievous smile before sashaying out the door and into the elevator.

Carrie shook her head as she watched Jackie disappear from her sights. _Wow, what a loser am I? How could I forget my own birthday?_ Carrie walked back to her trashed bed and began shaking the comforter free of crumbs. As she shook the mattress, she heard a thump come from something hitting the floor. Sighing to herself, Carrie stumbled over to the side of the bed to pick up the phone she had knocked to the ground. Carrie groaned as she reached down to pick it, suddenly remembering Jackie's warning before she left. Carrie picked up the note from Officer Adam off the ground where Jackie had dropped it. She took the phone and the note over to the kitchen counter and began staring a hole through both objects. "God Carrie, don't be such a woose. Just do it." After her encouraging pep talk to herself, she finally began dialing the number.

After a few rings a man's voice was heard on the other end, "This is Officer Michaels, what is your emergency?"

Feeling a little guilty for holding up an emergency line Carrie quickly blurted out what Johnson had told her to say, "Um is Officer Johnson there?"

She heard an exasperated sigh come from the man on the line and then a loud thump, which she assumed was the man slamming the phone down on the table. She heard some muffled voices coming from the other line, but all she could pick up where the words "jackass" "rookie" and "chick". Then she heard a man's muffled laugh through the phone, "Hello, this is Officer Johnson."

Carrie suddenly felt her heart begin to race as she heard the kind southern drawl of Officer Adam on the phone. "Um, hey Officer, this is Carrie, the red head." She decided telling him her most dominant attribute would rattle his memory a bit.

She heard a slight pause on the other side that could have been interpreted as him in a stunned silence or trying to remember some random chick he interviewed. "Miss Carrie, oh my gosh, I didn't think I was gonna hear from you." She assumed it was stunned silence. "I figured you had forgotten all about me."

She heard him sigh and suddenly felt comforting warmth spread throughout her body. "No, of course not. I…was…have been real busy…you know?" She was shocked at herself for getting so tongue tied, but she was slightly inebriated.

"Yeah, I understand. So, what's a gorgeous woman doin callin a police station at 11:45 at night?"

Carrie laughed at the compliment and then balked at the time. She had completely forgotten what time it was. "Oh, I'm sorry. I had no idea what the time was. See, my friend brought over some drinks earlier, and I guess we just lost track of time."

"No…no do not apologize Miss Carrie. If anyone where to call me at 11:45 at night I am thankful it was you." Carrie began blushing under the flattery being presented to her.

"Well, the reason I was calling was my friend, I mentioned earlier, saw your note on my fridge and decided that if I could get you to agree to go out with me tomorrow night she would buy us drinks."

Carrie heard silence in the background and then something that sounded suspiciously like a high five. "Miss Carrie, I would be completely thrilled to go out with you tomorrow night, and let me just say, I am flattered that you kept my note on your fridge." Carrie's face turned beet red as she realized she had revealed keeping his note on her fridge like a prized possession.

"Well I am so relieved you are agreeing to go cuz I sure can't afford to buy my own drinks." Officer Adam laughed out right at her witty comment. She couldn't help but giggle a little at his out right amusement.

"Miss Carrie, even if your friend was not goin, do you honestly believe I would let a young lady, such as yourself, buy her own drinks?"

Carrie smiled at the kindness behind his words. Then, throwing on her best Blanche Dubois impersonation she drawled, "Well, I have always depended on the kindness of strangers."

Carrie could hear his smile through the phone, "I am goin to turn you into a southern girl yet."

Carrie gave a nervous chuckle at his out right flirtation. "Well, thank you again for agreeing to go out with me tomorrow night, Officer Johnson."

"You are more than welcome Miss Carrie. Oh, and you can call me Adam."

Carrie made sure he could hear the smile in her voice, "Only if you cut out the Miss, southern boy, and just call me Carrie."

She heard a light chuckle on the other end before a gentle, "Okay…Carrie," was caressed through the phone. "See you tomorrow night then."

"Till tomorrow night," Carrie hung up the phone with the biggest smile plastered on her face. She needed tonight so badly. Suddenly a loud crash was heard out in the alley by her window. Dropping the phone, Carrie rushed to see if her imagination was running away with her. She knew that was too loud to be a cat. Her heart was racing, and she had stopped breathing in anticipation. Carrie rushed to the window only to find blackness. The only difference was that one of the dumpsters had a huge dent in it, as if something huge had smashed it. As Carrie fought to keep the tears at bay, she placed her hand down only to draw it back as if it had been burned. There on the window sill was a red rose with every thorn still in tact. As tears began pooling into her eyes Carrie reached out to grab it, mindful of the sharpness surrounding the beauty. And there under the rose was a napkin with writing on it. The handwriting was swift but careful. It was not extravagant or poetic, but it was _his_ handwriting. She read it to herself over again as if it were a mantra: **Happy Birthday Carrie****.**

Carrie grasped the rose to her chest, no longer mindful of the pain the rose was emitting. She wanted to feel the pain. It was his pain. He had heard everything. She suddenly felt sick as it dawned on her. He had been here. Carrie clawed back up to the window and began screaming his name at the top of her lungs. "Victor! Victor! Please!" Her eyes were flooding over as the tears made wet courses down her cheeks. Carrie collapsed next to the window. She couldn't leave it knowing he could be back at any moment. After what felt like days, she looked behind her to check the clock to see how long she had been there, since she found the rose. The digital clock stared back at her unfeelingly as 2:30 am rolled around. Her body was sore and her eyes ached from crying for the first time in a week. Carrie stubbornly stood up from her position and walked somberly to her bed. As she lay down on her pillow, she placed the note and the rose right next to her head, and then whispered forlornly to herself, "Happy birthday to me."

----Sorry, for those of you who wanted Victor in this one, but Carrie needed to let loose a little.

----So, what do ya'll think about Adam? Please review let me know what ya'll think.

----Next chapter will be more Vic…promise!


	9. Chapter 9

---Hey guys, moment you all have been waiting for!

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Chapter 9

Her beautiful smile, the gentleness of her eyes, the way she laughed; his heart ripped open as he remembered the way she bit her lip. None of it was for him. He slammed his fist against the garbage can in an attempt to dull the pain in his chest. Then he ran. He ran as fast as his feet could carry him. He leaped over the top of buildings, ran over the homeless beggars on the street, all so he could get away from her. The way she swept her blood red hair back over her shoulder as she smiled gently. He stopped mid-sprint as the pain caused him to double over in an abandoned building. His screams shattered the windows as he gripped his chest. "DAMNIT!" He screamed profanities to the walls, while simultaneously slamming his head into them. He couldn't get her out of his head.

The room finally began to spin from the brute force he was punishing himself with. _What did I do?_ He couldn't bring himself to admit the reason he gave her the present was because he had memorized her birthday. He had memorized everything she ever told him. Even when he pretended like he wasn't interested, he held on to every word that came out of her mouth. _God, he loved her_. He just hated the fact he had to watch her cry herself to sleep at night looking out the window, for him. He hated the fact she screamed his name and he didn't have the balls to say, "Screw the world and everyone in it, I love you and that's all that matters." He hated watching those hazel eyes brim with anger and sadness over a piece of shit like him. But what he hated more was the fact he couldn't make her smile like that officer could. He loathed watching her giggle and smile for that _pig_. _Why couldn't I make her smile like that? _

_**Cuz you're a monster!**_ Victor clutched at his aching head as Sabretooth began screaming an answer through his subconscious.

"_No"_. Victor shook his head as he fell to his knees in protest.

_**You are and you know it. Like you said, "I kill people not because I have to but because I love the feeling of watching the life drain from their useless bodies!"**_ Sabretooth laughed menacingly as he revealed the truth to Victor.

Victor screamed out in protest as Sabretooth growled out his confession to Carrie. _"Stop!!" _Victor felt his body giving up on him as he collapsed onto the dirty, cement floor. He gasped out the breath he had been holding in anticipation for Sabretooth's continuing rape of his mind, but nothing came. Suddenly, his acute senses picked up on a familiar smell surrounding the room. It smelled like fear, sweat, and filth. He smelled _human_. Victor shot up from the ground, rage taking over at the thought of being spied on by a cockroach human. Closing his eyes Victor caressed the air with his nose, breathing in every scent, but focusing on just one. He crouched down, ready to stalk his prey. Allowing the dark to cover his body, Victor silently moved towards the shadows, away from the moonlight. He stayed against the wall listening for any movement or breathing of any kind. Then, there it was, a muffled sob echoed from across the room. Victor proceeded to silently walk the edges of the wall until he found the human who dared to sneak up on Victor Creed. In the back of his mind, Victor prayed it was that pig who was talking to _his_ Carrie.

Suddenly, Victor stopped, as Carrie's tear stained face returned to his memory. He closed his eyes as her gentle voice caressed his ravaged mind. "No, you're not a monster." Carrie never saw him as a monster. She never touched him with fear in her eyes. Victor fell to his knees in shame.

Then, out of the darkness, he saw his prey. A teenage boy huddled in the corner, fear enveloping his body. Victor had to turn away as the fear licked his senses and tempted him to tear the small boy apart. "Are…are you going to kill me?" The boy sobbed out as the terror radiated through his shaking voice.

Victor watched as the boy pushed himself further into the corner. Victor had always wondered why people huddle further against walls, as if the wall itself would protect them. He suddenly found himself standing over the cornered boy with a mix of disgust and pity. He couldn't have been much older than seventeen. He was dirty and covered in grime. Victor breathed in the boy's fear, resembling an addict taking his last hit. Carrie's face stayed plastered to his memory, she never turned away in disgust or fear. "No boy, I'm not going to kill you, but you better get out of here before I change my mind." Victor watched as the boy's saucer plate eyes scrambled for the nearest exit. The boy saw his chance and sprinted for the open door a few feet away. Victor watched the boy leave with a mix of regret and relief. He remembered how, before Carrie, he would have bathed in that boy's blood. He would have tasted the fear and innocence in that blood. But now, as he thought of it, all he could picture were Carrie's eyes as she woke up to see his body covered in blood. He never wanted to see those eyes again. The utter terror and anguish written in those eyes ripped at his heart.

It suddenly dawned on him how she had saved him from himself more times than he could count. She loved him without ever asking him to change. She had watched him kill her boss; then cried over the fact _he_ pushed her away. _God, what have I done?_ For a split second, he wondered if God was tired of listening to him. Then, with a new resolve, Victor exited the building completely confident in his decision.

Carrie huffed and groaned as she stared at the outfit Jackie had brought over for her to wear tonight. After a few choice words in another language, Carrie was now being forced to go out tonight. She had even attempted the old 'I just fell down the stairs to my apartment and am now unconscious in the ER' routine. But her excuses went through deaf ears. She gave one good moan as she remembered Jackie's threats, "If you do not go out tonight I will let everyone know how horrible a singer you are, how badly you snore, and you will be known as the biggest prude in the office. Do I make myself clear?" Jackie was such a skank sometimes! Stomping her foot indignantly Carrie picked up the too short dress and the too long heals and threw them into the bathroom. She would go out, but that didn't mean she couldn't take her anger out on the outfit first.

"Carrie!! You ready yet?" Jackie let herself into the apartment when 8:30 rolled around. "Carrie, the dress isn't that ba…" Jackie stopped mid nag, as Carrie stepped out of the bathroom. Jackie started her inspection from the top of Carrie's head and worked her way down. Carrie's robust red wine hair was allowed to curl freely around her shoulders and neck. Her eyes were a smoky hazel and her lips were glossed just enough to look juicy. Her tight black dress accentuated her little curves and gave her breasts enough lift to look sexy but not cheap. Her beautiful legs ended with a pair of strappy, red heals. Jackie laughed at the color of the shoes. She thought it best not to tell Carrie they were her 'stop sign' heals.

Carrie wobbled out of the bathroom with a scowl permanently etched on her face for the night. "Jackie, have I told you how much I hate you today?"

"Yeah, I think you screamed it over the phone on multiple occasions this morning." Jackie stood up from the bed she was sitting on to languidly walk over to the full length mirror against the wall. "Damn, I look good." Carrie rolled her eyes as Jackie lifted her breasts to the point they were touching her chin. "I don't know why you are making this into such a big deal. I told you I would be buying your drinks."

"I know. It's just…" Carrie sat down on her bed as Victor's enraged face appeared into her mind. Her eyes began to betray her as she stared at the long-stemmed rose sitting in a vase by her bed. Carrie got a hold of herself as she noticed Jackie walking over to her.

"Oh, chicka, I know you're nervous about going out with officer sexy. But you're just gonna have to suck it up or get wasted." Jackie gave Carrie a playful smile. She then held her hand out to reassure Carrie she would not leave her tonight. Carrie grasped the hand thankfully, as another playful smile appeared on Jackie's face. Carrie's eyes only got bigger as she watched Jackie grab their clutches and then start pulling her towards the door.

"We are leaving now?!" Carrie barely had time to get the sentence out of her mouth before Jackie threw her out of her apartment door and into the arms of a very strapping young man. "Officer Johnson?" Carrie looked up into two dark blue eyes brimming with excitement. Carrie pulled back quickly as she realized she was still being held by the officer. As she adjusted her dress, she allowed herself a minute to give the kind officer an inspection. He was wearing a nice pair of blue jean, which appeared to be tight in all the right places, and a black button-up short sleeve shirt, which appeared to grasp his muscled arms and chest. It was tucked into the front of his jeans but not the back. She assumed that is where he was keeping his gun. The cherry, on top of the cake, was the black cowboy boots poking out from under the bottom of the jeans. Carrie brought her eyes back up to his, blushing at the fact she had been caught checking him out.

Officer Adam ran a hand through his auburn hair and gave the beautiful woman a cocked half smile. "I thought we were passed the 'officer', Miss Carrie."

"Oh I'm sorry Adam. Old habits die hard, you know?" Carrie smiled gently as Adam nodded his head in agreement, obviously just as nervous as he was. She then took his offered arm for balance in her shoes and headed for the cab. As she stared up at the beautiful man beside her, she couldn't help trying to imagine another man's body close to her own. Taking a deep knowing breath to calm her nerves, Carrie allowed Adam to help her into the cab to begin their journey to the 'bar'.

Carrie made her fifth trip to the **club's** bar to order another round for the group. She had stopped yelling at Jackie after about an hour of being at the club. Jackie had told her they were going to a bar **not** a Latino club. She stopped being upset when Jackie told her she could get as much alcohol she wanted. This helped, considering her spiked nerves. Adam was constantly trying to get her to dance. She had danced a few times with Jackie, but the thought of Adam holding her in his arms only made her sick with betrayal. She couldn't bring herself to say no to him, so she kept going to the bar to get drinks for everyone, every time he asked her to dance. "I can't help but get the feelin you are tryin to avoid me." Carrie's back stiffened as she felt Adam lean in to whisper in her ear.

"No, I was just getting us more to drink." She knew she sounded too snippy, but all she wanted to do at that moment was crawl into bed and forget about this whole night.

"Come on Carrie, just one dance. I promise I won't bite cha." She took a deep breath as the word 'bite' caused her to remember Victor's teeth raking against her body.

She felt Adam lay his hand gently against the middle of her back, sending chills throughout her body at the warmth of his touch. It would have felt nice had it not been his hand, but someone else's. "I can't dance…Okay?! Now, stop asking!" She felt the guilt come rushing over her as she saw his eyes look down as if he were a child being scolded. "Adam, I'm sorry…"

"Did I do something wrong?" His eyes looked back into hers with such guilt and embarrassment, she had to do something.

"Maybe, just one dance…" She saw his eyes light up and felt him grab her hand as he pulled her out to the dance floor, the drinks completely forgotten. He wrapped her arms around his neck as a sensually slow song began to play. '_Oh know'_ she had no idea a song with a slow beat was coming on. He pulled her body close to his and slid his arms to rest respectfully against her lower back. He was smiling so kindly at her, but all she could feel was guilt rising up into her throat. She had to get out of here. Suddenly, she watched as Jackie waved at her from across the club the universal sign of 'I'm going to go home with this guy, but I will call you tomorrow', so much for sticking with her till the end. Carrie felt her heart begin to race as she pictured Victor watching her. _What if he is watching me betray him?_ Her heart felt like it was fixing to explode out of her chest. She felt Adam shift her body so she was pressed harder into his chest. _Oh God, she had to get out of there!_ "I have to go…" She felt his surprised eyes on her back as she sprinted towards the exit, which she found was a miracle in the shoes. Carrie burst through the door and continued running down the street, the chilled night air calming her flushed skin. She finally stopped and leaned against the wall of a foreign building. She slid down the side of the wall into a sitting position, only too aware of how bizarre she must look. In a sudden fit of anger she pulled the deadly heals from her sore feet and chunked them into the alley beside her. She would buy Jackie a new pair. Placing her hands against her heated face Carrie began the slow process of simmering in her guilt. "Victor, I'm so sorry."

Then she heard it. She heard the shifting of feet in the alley next to her. It was as if, whatever it was, was sitting right against the wall listening to her. Out of curiosity and a blind hope, Carrie stood up and turned into the alley, only to be greeted by nothing. Carrie walked further into the alley out of desperation to find what she was looking for, whatever that may be. Just as she was about to scream out in frustration, she felt a presence come up behind her. Carrie slowly turned, to be greeted by the beaten figure of Victor Creed. Carrie placed a hand over her mouth to hide the gasp at the sight of him. He looked horrible. He looked like he hadn't taken a shower in weeks or slept either. Carrie reached out a tentative hand towards his face only to have his cheek turn away from her. Then, she heard his voice, "Do you love him?" It sounded like a mix of gravel and sand grinding together. He obviously hadn't used it much for quite some time.

Carrie stopped her musings as she finally processed the question, but still had to ask again, "What?"

Victor finally lost his patience with the woman in front of him, "DO YOU LOVE HIM?!"

Carrie stepped back as the question was roared at her. She was tired of his petty attitude, but she had called it. He had been watching the whole time. "No, Victor, I don't love him."

"Why not?" That question caught her off guard.

"Why not what?" She asked it slowly, confusion written all over her features.

"Why do you not love him, Carrie?" His head bowed in its agony. The words appeared to cause him physical pain.

Then it dawned on her what he was trying to do and anger filled her to the brim. "Because I love you, you stupid ass!" Carrie finally lost all control over her body as sobs began to wrack her small frame. He was here with her after over a month of no word, and he was still trying to push her away. "I waited for you every night Victor Creed! You never came to me! You never came back!"

Victor bowed his head further pressing it against the wall. She was so beautiful tonight. He couldn't look at her or his resolve would fail. "I'm sorry Carrie…"

"You're sorry." Her voice lowered a complete octave in her anger. She watched him lower his head further against the wall. "Victor, look at me!" She watched him slowly lift his eyes to hers, as if looking at her was the hardest thing he ever had to do.

He couldn't breath. She was completely stunning. Her hair was tangled and wild around her head. Her face was flushed red from the chill and anger filling her body. But what made his breath catch in his throat were her eyes. They were nearly black in her anger. They were filled with a passionate fire meant only for him. He could read every emotion in them at once: astonishment, anger, sorrow, and love. He couldn't take it anymore, with every last bit of his resolve gone Victor grabbed up the small woman and pinned her against the wall with his body. He heard her gasp once before he claimed her mouth with his. He felt her give back just as much as he gave. He felt her trying to pull him closer to her and wrap her legs around his waist. He growled deep in his throat as he felt her bite his bottom lip in frustrated passion. She moaned his name when he grasped her butt with one hand to pull her closer to him and rake his other hand down her back. He could taste her tears as he continued to ravage her blood red lips. All of her pain and rage slipping away in those tears as she continued to give her soul over to him.

Victor suddenly snapped his head back as he heard the ominous sound of a gun cocking behind him. He looked into Carrie's eyes as she looked behind him and recognition dawned in those passion-filled eyes. "Adam…" Victor placed Carrie back on the ground and watched as she stepped in front of him, as if to protect him. "Adam, please put the gun down."

"Carrie, get away from that thing!"

Victor snarled at the man in front of them. He was pointing that pistol too close to Carrie. Victor grabbed Carrie's arm in an effort to move her away from the dangerous weapon. Then with one quick movement Victor had Adam by the throat against the wall. "DON'T EVER POINT A GUN NEAR HER!" Victor watched as the man tried to struggle unsuccessfully in his grasp to get away. Fear wafting off of him in waves.

"You…were…goin…to…hurt…her." Victor was oddly surprised the man had enough balls to talk back to him.

"I LOVE HER!" Victor watched in mild amusement as the man's features went from completely scared shitless, to complete shock, then to complete anger.

"Victor! Stop it! You're going to kill him!" Carrie's enraged and frightened voice finally reached him through all of the screaming. Then, growing tired of the pathetic human, Victor dropped him unceremoniously to the ground. He watched the man stare up at him with such rage written on his features Victor couldn't help but be a little amused. He turned around and placed a hand against Carrie's tear-stained face. He basked in the complete devotion shining through those eyes. He watched as those suddenly turned into complete fear as she looked behind him. He didn't have any time to notice the angry Adam pointing the cocked gun at his head, and he watched in horror as Carrie pulled herself in front of him as the trigger was pulled back. No one heard the gun shot over the roar of anguish emitted from Victor Creed, as he watched Carrie clutch the left side of her chest in pain. Victor looked up at the shocked man in front of him.

Adam dropped the gun as guilt and shock washed over his entire body. "Oh my God, I shot her." Adam didn't even attempt to move as Victor reared back and punched the man with a force strong enough to break a brick wall. He watched as Adam shakily got to his feet after a moment of gasping for air.

"Go call an ambulance." Victor's voice was shaking from the effort it took not to rip this man apart. He watched as Adam ran shakily around the corner and down the block to the payphone. Then he looked down at Carrie as she grasped her chest in agony. Victor sat down next to _his_ Carrie and pulled her gently into his embrace. He took his coat off carefully so as not to move her and wrapped it around her shivering body. "Why did you do that, you stupid woman?"

He watched as she smiled gently through blue tinged lips, "Because I love you, you stupid ass." Victor smiled and pulled her closer to his body as he felt her shake a little more violently at the loss of blood.

He started to panic as her eyes began to flutter shut. "Don't you dare pass out on me, Red." Victor rubbed a place on her cheek where blood had splashed up onto it. She looked up into his eyes, fighting the oblivion trying to take her. She reached out a shaky hand to touch his cheek in reassurance. Victor took her trembling palm and kissed the center of it.

Carrie watched as he looked down at her with a look of complete terror on his face. "Don't worry, it's gonna take more…than a gun shot…wound to get rid of…me." She gasped at the effort it was taking to whisper to him.

Victor laughed, in spite of his pain, at the fire she still held on to. "You are one tough bitch." Carrie laughed and then gasped at the pain it caused. Victor pulled her closer to his body as she cried out in pain. "I love you, Carrie."

He felt her nuzzle the gruffness of his chin as she whispered against his neck, "I love you too."

Then he felt complete silence surround them. He couldn't hear her breathing anymore. He heard the distant wail of the ambulance. He looked at the limp body of the woman he loved more than his own life and silence was all that greeted him. "Carrie! Carrie look at me!" He gasped out her name, he kissed her lips for any response, and then, out of desperation, he rocked her limp body against his chest, as the paramedics finally arrived on scene.

----So what do you guys think?

----I have to be honest. I kind of got the inspiration for Adam from my fiancé. HAHA!

----Please Review!!!!


	10. Epilogue

_Epilogue_

_Why did it have to be so freakin cold?_ Carrie thought as she traveled down the dark streets of New York City. She clutched her jacket pulling it closer to her body as the wind began to pick up around her. She walked with determination in her step. If he asked her to meet him all the way out here, then that is what she was going to do. "Stupid jerk," her breath hitched as another cold draft of air nipped at her bare legs. He had asked her to wear a dress in this weather. She was going to kill him. Looking up into the night sky she tried to focus on something other than the cold air beating away at her small frame. However, this became difficult when the only thing she could see was her breath on the wind. "Damn, it is so cold!" Turning into a street between two buildings the girl attempted to shield herself from the wind surrounding her. She pushed her hands into her pockets to shield herself from the cold. She suddenly stiffened as she felt the warmth of a body standing behind her. Turning around slowly, she gasped as she was slammed into the wall behind her, hesitantly looking up into two dark eyes. "Victor, you know I hate the cold!"

Victor pulled the jacket off of his body and through it around the whining woman in front of him. "Is that better, princess?" He smiled dangerously at her as she glared up at him through thick eyelashes. He could never understand how this woman turned him into the man he was now. He looked down at her shivering body and felt the peace he craved surround him.

"Don't call me princess." She said it as a warning. "And yes, that is much better." She laughed as she felt herself being lifted off the ground again.

He pressed his body close to hers shielding it from the chill in the air. She wrapped her legs around his torso and moaned when she felt him thrust his hips in surprise. "Do you know where we are?" She felt his breath against her neck as he whispered huskily into her ear, before biting playfully on her neck.

She tried her hardest to focus on her surroundings with all of the distractions he was bestowing upon her. "No, but I know where I wish I was." She felt him smile against her neck at her playful banter.

"This is where you were attacked a year and a half ago." She stiffened in his arms as the memory came flooding back. "Relax," and at the gentle command she did.

"This is where you saved me." She shivered as she felt his lips caress her neck sensually, and then she felt him pull away from her neck to look her directly in the eyes.

"No, Red, this is where you saved me." Her eyes began to burn with emotion as his statement hit her full force. Without any further hesitation Carrie kissed him with as much passion and love she could convey in a kiss. She moaned his name as he bit gently on her lower lip and trailed his sharp nails through her hair. "I love you." He moaned it into her mouth as her legs tightened around his waist.

It was so hard to believe that only a few months ago she was near death in a hospital bed. The doctors told her she was lucky to be alive. She had been shot through her shoulder, and the bullet had grazed a major artery. They told her had the artery been severed she would have bled out much quicker. She was in the hospital for nearly a week as they monitored her. She felt like she was in hell. She had just gotten Victor only have him taken away for a week. She knew he didn't leave her though. She felt his presence the whole time, even if he didn't make himself visible. He told her later, after torturing him for information, that on some nights he would crawl into bed with her when he knew they were alone and sleep beside her until morning. She had stopped torturing him after that, which basically meant she would stop walking around the apartment nude not letting him touch her. He now stayed with her in her apartment, but would often leave when company came over. It hurt a little, but Carrie understood his need for privacy. It almost made her a little proud that she was the only person he loved being around. Jackie finally stopped asking about 'Officer Sexy' when Carrie told her he had shot her. She felt a little guilty about telling such a mistruth, because to be fair, it was an accident. But if he had shot Victor it would felt like he was shooting her anyways, so she saw no difference. She would often wonder what had happened to him, but she assumed he just went back home. She could have never been his southern girl.

Now, as she held on to the love of her life, she couldn't believe that this was the same man who had caused her so much pain in the past. He was dangerous, undependable, short-tempered, and she loved him with everything in her soul. Carrie broke the kiss long enough to bask in the passion flowing from his eyes to hers. "Let's finish this at home."

Carrie watched as his sharp teeth protruded over his bottom lip in his trademark grin. He grabbed her upper arms in a secure grip as he slung her behind him so she could wrap her legs securely around his back. He felt her grin against his back in anticipation for the ride to come. She closed her eyes as she heard him push his claws into the wall to begin climbing up. She knew this ride well enough now that the fear no longer existed. She knew he would never let her fall. "Ready?" She heard him ask her and shuttered as she felt his voice vibrate through his back and into her chest.

Placing a chaste kiss against the back of his neck she whispered, "Always…" Then she felt the wind against her face as Victor bounded up the wall and across buildings back to their home. There they would make love most of the night until exhaustion caused her to curl up into his body and fall asleep to the sound of his quiet breathing, whispering 'I love you' one last time, as the night slowly disappeared into morning.

_**He restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for His name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. Psalm 23:3-4 **_

---Well, I know it is shorter than the previous chapter, but I think it made its point ;)

----Please review loves!


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